


Your Forever, My Forever

by BillAndAdirisForever



Category: Dead by Daylight (Video Game)
Genre: Ace X Laurie, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst, Bisexuality, Claudette X Adam, Crushes, David King - Freeform, Dwight Fairfield - Freeform, Dwight Fairfield/David King - Freeform, Dwight-centric, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, F/M, Family, First Meetings, Friendship, Gen, Helpful Dwight, Inspired by Dead by Daylight (Video Game), Jake X Feng, Kingfield - Freeform, LGBT, M/M, Multiverse, Nea X Jeff, Novella, Other, Protectiveness, Reimaginings, Romance, Slow Burn, Straight Couples, Team Bonding, Temporary Character Death, bad boy, gay couples, relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-03
Updated: 2020-09-26
Packaged: 2021-03-06 15:54:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 25,394
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26261467
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BillAndAdirisForever/pseuds/BillAndAdirisForever
Summary: Majorly, an imagining of Dwight Fairfield and David King's first encounter in the Entity's world, in one of the multiverses. How the journey of their relationship together is like, along with their bonds with the other survivors and the other couples.(Please be familiar with the video game, Dead By Daylight, before reading the chapters below)Photos-Courtesy: Twitter ("PillStealer", "DMod"). Thank you, guys!
Relationships: Ace Visconti/Laurie Strode, Adam Francis/Claudette Morel, Dwight Fairfield & David King, Dwight Fairfield/David King, Feng Min/Jake Park, Jeffrey "Jeff" Johansen/Nea Karlsson, Quentin Smith/Meg Thomas
Comments: 3
Kudos: 82





	1. 1. The night we met. I knew I needed you so

Dwight woke up with a shiver. His eyes were adjusting to the darkness around him. He felt the grass beneath him, as he waited for his eyes to guide him further.  
“Which Realm?” He thought to himself.  
“Yep, the Ironworks one.” He could see more clearly now.  
The Realm as usual, was bathed in the blue moonlight. The perpetual moonlight.  
He saw a scrap of paper beside him. Smiling, he picked it up and let out a sigh of relief.  
RESPITE – was written on it, in the unmistakable handwriting of the Entity.

It was the Entity which showered down on them scraps of paper which indicated whether it was the time for their new trial against a killer, or it was the time to rest.  
Dwight was expecting that this would be a respite because as per his instincts, eight hours of trials were over. It was time for their customary twelve hours of respite.

“Where is everybody?”, thought Dwight. “So we have to rest in the Ironworks today, before the next set of trials begin?”  
He shrugged his shoulders, got up quickly, and started walking towards the wilderness to find the others. He did not have to be cautious and careful at that moment. There was no killer in the Realm at that time. Maybe the killers had retreated to their own twelve-hours-of-rest-zone, crafted by the Entity – wherever that was! Dwight chuckled to himself. 

Bill was standing alone, leaning against a tree trunk, smoking.  
Dwight ran up to him delightedly, and gave him a tight hug.  
“Hey Dad!”  
Bill smiled. Being the eldest of all the other survivors in age, in the Entity’s eternal sadistic prison, everyone jokingly called him “Dad” and the variations of that word.  
“Was wonderin’ when I’d see you. You weren’t with me in my last three trials. When did your last one end?”  
“I might have been unconscious for an hour or two.”  
“Nah, might be ten minutes or so. At the most. After a death in any of the trials. Did you die in your last one?”  
Dwight’s eyes were looking at the ground. He nodded feebly.  
Bill’s cigar had finished. He hugged Dwight warmly. 

Bill wasn’t the kind who showed emotions much. Especially to other men. Perhaps with the exception of the “tough-guy” anger and aggression towards them. However, coming into the world of the Entity and undergoing horrifying deadly game-trials with these kids, he found himself softening up to some of them. Dwight was perhaps the only male co-survivor to whom he had started to visibly show affection. He saw his son in Dwight. He saw his daughter in Nea, Meg and Claudette. Yes, in an almost long-forgotten past life besides his many worldly adventures, he was indeed “normal”, with a wife and kids.  
“It’s gonna be okay, Kid.”  
“It never is, Billy. We’re again gonna to be in a trial. It’s the same thing – over and over!”  
“Let’s not think about that now, okay? C’mon, it’s respite now. Go on and rest up! Have a smoke, get some sleep.”  
Bill patted Dwight’s shoulder and kissed the top of his head.

“Where are the rest?”, asked Dwight.  
“Go in that direction”, Bill pointed at his right. “They have set up a campfire. I’ll join you guys in a bit.”  
“Are you thinking about your family? Again?”  
Bill did not answer or react.  
Realizing that it was best to give Bill some space, Dwight started walking towards Bill’s right.  
“It was that f-----g Trapper! My last trial. Yours?”, Bill groaned, looking at another direction, absent-minded.  
“The Nurse. You gonna be okay?”  
“Go on, Kid.”

Dwight could now see the glow of the campfire, as he walked for less than a couple of minutes. He saw Ace and Feng coming towards him.  
“Hey Dudders! What took ya’ so long?”, Ace chuckled.  
Feng ran towards him and hugged.  
“I’m fine. Thanks guys. How’re ya, Feng?”  
“I finally completed my sculpture! I am dying to show it to you!”, said Feng, with glee.  
“But first, Feng, tell him… The new Wretched?”, Ace made a strange body-gesture towards Feng.  
Feng acknowledged it awkwardly, and then turned her beautiful eyes towards Dwight. “Something happened when we all got into this Respite Realm.”  
“Rather, some-One happened!”, Ace added.

“What? What’re you guys talking about?”, asked Dwight, impatiently.  
“Did ya’ see Bill?”, asked Ace.  
“Yes. But what happened?”, Dwight asked the both of them again.  
Feng took a deep breath and said, “Bill did not tell you then. Yet. A new co-survivor has come to our Realm… Another unfortunate person, whom the Entity has swallowed. Swooped up from the real world.”  
“Really?”, said Dwight. “I always prayed that no one else comes here. No one else experiences what we are going through. The Entity already has nine of us! That too, in multiverses. Why isn’t it’s thirst still not quenched?”  
“Let’s get you all cleaned up, Man and meet the Wretched”, said Ace, as he gently escorted Dwight towards the campfire.  
“Yeah, have some food and drink, Dwight. And Ace, his name is David. The new co-survivor is a man, Dwight”, said Feng.

Dwight sat down on the nearest log and Ace sat down beside him. The fire sounded a soothing tone of crackling. Nea was sitting on the ground, strumming her half-broken guitar. Whatever was left of it. She looked up and waved at Dwight. Dwight smiled and waved back at his second-best friend. His first-best friend, Claudette, was on the logs at the opposite side of the fire, with Laurie and some other people who he was not able to see. Claudette waved at him and he returned it.  
Feng had gone to Claudette’s side. She returned to Dwight and said, “The new guy’s there. David. Claudette, and Laurie are with him right now. Trying to help. Guy seems to be in bad shape. Traumatized or something, in his own way. You want some apple juice? The Entity has sent some to us.”  
“Thanks a lot, Pal. Who is he? Where are Meg and Jake?”  
“Jake has gone to change. Killer Shack. Meg must be around here, somewhere. She was here. I’ll go look”, said Feng.  
Laurie came over.  
“Dwight! You okay?”  
Dwight nodded.  
“Come meet the new guy. You’re the only one who has not met him, yet. Can you walk?”  
“Yes. Okay”, Dwight went ahead.

The new man was sitting in a dark corner. Claudette was sitting beside him, but a little apart. His head hung down. Dwight could not see his face. His black hair was cut in a short mullet. He wore a black jacket that had become greasy with the mud, just like his blue denims and dark grey sneakers. Underneath was a soiled shirt which was supposed to be white in colour, at one point of time. He wore a black Casio watch. He did not seem to be much taller, but was well-built. Dwight thought that he might have been in the military.  
“David, this is Dwight Fairfield. We call him our Leader, because he is the oldest one in the Realm – as far as the duration of stay is concerned. Then came Meg, Jake and all”, said Laurie.  
David did not react. His head remained hanging.  
“He has been very quiet. He was only responding to Bill, Nea and Claudette. That too in monosyllables”, Laurie whispered to Dwight. “They were the ones who found him lying in the wilderness. Almost unconscious. Not too long before you came in.”  
“Guys, let’s go have dinner and call it a night! We have to rest before the upcoming Shit-shows. A-gain!”, hollered Nea from a distance, annoyed.  
“It’s alright, Laurie. Later… We’ll see. Let’s all… go”, said Dwight, awkwardly.  
Laurie shrugged and went ahead.  
Claudette got up and glanced at Dwight, not knowing what to say.  
“Has he… Mr… David… Eaten anything since he arrived?”, Dwight asked Claudette.  
“Only some water. He had some minor injuries. I took care of them for the time being”, Claudette answered.  
“Well, I’m gonna go join the others for dinner. Could you bring him along in a moment?”  
“I’ll try. David, come join us inside. Dinner awaits. It’s usually very good!”, Claudette made a feeble attempt to cheer David up.

After they all had turkey-roasts for dinner (sent by the Entity) and most of them fell asleep due to exhaustion in the Killer-Shack floor, Dwight woke up after about an hour and a half into his sleep. He walked out and saw Bill sitting alone on the ground.  
“Couldn’t sleep, as usual?”, smiled Dwight, as he greeted the elder man.  
“Waiting to wake up from this nightmare, Kiddo. You? Losing sleep, as usual?”  
“Did you meet the new guy, David?”, Dwight asked.  
“Yep. He is sleeping under that tree now, right over there. He seems cool.”  
“Did he eat dinner? Do you know? Claudette and Laurie tried but couldn’t make him come. Then I fell asleep. I don’t know what happened after that.”  
Bill put an arm around Dwight.  
“Take it easy, Kid. I think he needs to process what is happening. I’m sure Claudette and all have explained everything to him. The way you guys did to me, when I landed around here. I tried my best to explain to him, too. From my side.”  
“But I don’t think he has eaten anything”, said Dwight.  
“Me too. But he is sleeping now. Let him sleep.”


	2. 2. When You play It Hard, and I Try to Follow You There

The Entity’s alarm rang as usual. Time to wake up.  
Dwight and Bill had fallen asleep on the open ground, while talking to each other. Despite the age difference, Dwight, Claudette and Nea often had wonderful, intense philosophical talks with their “Dad”. About life, death, love and everything under the sun.

They knew that the Entity will soon shower scraps of papers, announcing the new sets of trials. They began getting themselves ready, and gobbling the new platter of food at the Killer Shack, in a hurried manner. Soon, each of them will be transported to another Realm. This time, with one of the killers that the Entity has swooped up into its cruel world.  
No survivor knew which other survivor will be with them in each individual trial. In fact, they might also bump into one or more clones of themselves, from any of the multiverses. Yes, there were multiple Dwights, Claudettes and Bills in the other verses – other parallel worlds of the Entity.

At the blink of an eye, Dwight found himself transported to the blue-walled Lery’s Memorial Theatre Realm. He took a deep breath, rubbed the bread crumbs that he had been eating on his jeans to clean his hands, and prepared himself. He felt a bit guilty of not paying attention to Feng much, when she had asked him again whether he would like to see the sculpture that she had completed. He looked around for one of the generators or “Jenny”s to repair. He wondered which killer he would be facing, who his other co-survivors were. All kinds of overlapping thoughts and plans relating to a trial, raced through his brain. The first trial of that day had begun. Eight to nine more hours to go, before Respite… 

Dwight awoke this time near their usual Campfire sub-Realm, rather than the occasional Realms. Thank God, the trials of that day against killers, were over! He got the confirmation through the scrap of paper with the Entity’s message, just beside him. Time to bond with the others, eat and sleep.  
He was glad that he escaped every single trial, without dying. He momentarily thought of the new guy, David… King, was it? – He had not seen him in any of the trials of the day. Was Dwight subconsciously hoping to run into him? Would he feel glad if he had run into him?  
Nea was lying close-by. Still unconscious.  
Jake was getting up, groaning. He was a little far from them.  
“Hey, Bro!”, He cried out upon seeing Dwight.  
Dwight ran towards him, smiling. “Jake-y Boy! Yo!”  
They hugged.  
“Are you hurt?”  
“Y’know we don’t feel pain that much, despite the hooks and deaths. It’s just the gooey blood that’s making me feel disgusted”, complained Jake.  
“You’re healing. I can see it. You’ll be alright. Let’s go help Nea up.”  
Dwight and Jake considered one to be the other’s twin brother. They were definitely not related, nor did they look alike. Yet, they bonded over the countless trials, and discovered a kindred spirit in one another. They used to argue a lot, initially, but now they almost cannot live without each other. Such was the familial feeling between the two of them. Even now and then, Jake sneaked into Dwight’s prized collection of t-shirts, and wore them without asking him. Dwight did not get angry with that anymore.

The three of them walked towards the Campfire, where they found the rest of their co-survivors of their verse. Dwight saw David King’s face for the first time. David seemed more at ease now. He was chatting with Bill.  
Dwight smiled internally. He might have blushed a little too. David had the face of an athlete. He had minor scratch-marks on his nose, the bottom of his lips and at the top of one of his eyes. All that, plus the rugged state of his clothes and his muscular build made David project an impressive personality.  
When Dwight, Jake and Nea arrived at the campfire, David instinctively looked up. At that moment, Dwight and David’s eyes met.  
Under David’s momentary gaze, Dwight felt as if he were melting. As if he were on fire. As if, certain emotions and desires that were long hidden away inside him, were suddenly starting to come up to the surface. Dwight feared that he might not be able to control them for long! He coughed, nervously. He touched his own cheeks. They were hot. He looked away from those hypnotic eyes – David King, the new guy, the Wretched had entranced him at first sight. It was of no use denying it.  
Dwight thought it was best at that moment just to be quiet and sit down in a corner. He needed to appear well-put-together.

“So, who were y’all against today? Who did you meet and escaped with… Or died with?”, grunted Bill, with a cigarette at the side of his lips.  
“Oh they have given us cigs?”, said Nea excitedly. “I’ll get some. Anyone else?”  
“I’ll come with you to the Shack. I want one, too”, said Laurie, getting up.  
“So?”, asked Bill.  
“I went against Herman, Evan and Sally, for the most part. Died in my last trial of the day with Sally. Bumped into our Nea on one of the trials. The rest of the folks were some of you guys from another verse. It was cool to see that there were three of me on one of the trials!”, said Jake, animatedly.  
“I thought I saw you at one of my trials, Jake! I couldn’t get the scope to get near you, though. Evan caught me every time, and I eventually died”, Meg chimed in.  
“That was you? You, you?”, Jake’s eyes became wider.  
“I mostly encountered The Doctor and The Nurse”, Feng laughed. “Also Mikey. Two times. Never met any of you guys, that is, from our verse.”  
“I did manage to escape Ojomo, but that Max sliced me in half!”, said Ace.  
“Ouchies!”, said Meg, with a disgusted look on her face. The look resonated in Claudette, Jake and David’s faces too.  
“So, this Killer Shack thing”, David spoke now. “Does it remain the same in every Realm when y’guys return for Respite?”

Dwight finally heard David speaking clearly for the first time. David was British! No one else had told him that, till now. Rather, he himself hadn’t had much conversation with the others anyway. David being British added to the list of the silent pleasant surprises that Dwight had been bombarded with, since he came to the after-trial Campfire that day. Dwight’s face became red, once again. Perhaps moments like these add to the positive and newer experiences in the Entity’s world – their prison for eternity. No escape, no ageing, no sense or measure of time, no sunlight, no losing their co-survivors.  
“It changes”, said Bill. “But our belongin’s and lockers remain. There’s a Killer Shack in every Realm and sub-Realm.”  
“During the trials, the different Realms could get a bit overwhelming for newcomers, David. Good thing Ace and I were there with you for the most of the trials, today”, said Claudette. “Must have been the Entity’s choice.”

“I was so bored, I died on most of them. Intentionally”, said Ace.  
“And I was so clumsy, I died on all of ‘em. Unintentionally. The killers made me shit m’ pants, every time I looked at ‘em!”, David chuckled, looking at Bill.  
Dwight noticed that David is opening up, slowly.  
“Fancy a smoke?”, David asked Bill. Bill nodded. They both got up and started walking to another direction. Claudette went along.

“Dwighty! How was your experience today?”, said Nea, who had just returned to the fire from her cigarette break.  
“The usual. Horrible… Say Nea, have you seen the new killer that has just come in? I was terrified! It was my first time with her. That too, in my first trial of the day. There was a forest Realm too. A new one. I was totally unprepared. Thank God I escaped. I thought I won’t be able to!”  
“Mmm… Was it some tall woman with a rabbit-mask on? Striking y’all down with hatchets? Humming some tune? Whenever she came nearer?”, asked Nea.  
“Exactly! Yes. Except, when I saw her, she was wearing a deer mask. She looked terrifying. That tune she was humming seemed cursed.”  
“David was telling Daddy about her, the other day. We overheard. Nea and I”, said Jake.

Meanwhile, Meg and Feng had gone to the Killer Shack and had brought Feng’s stone sculpture.  
“What do you think, Dwighty?”, squealed Feng.  
“That woman killer might have come along with that David”, said Meg, absent-mindedly.  
“It’s wonderful! You have such skills, Feng! So proud of you! Is it some Chinese Temple kind of a structure?”, said Dwight, excitedly.  
Feng smiled, humbly.  
“What do you think of that David guy, Dwighty?”, asked Meg.  
“I don’t trust him, to be honest. Something off about ‘im”, said Nea.  
“Laddie looks like some underworld crime-boss or somethin’”, Jake laughed. “Hey Nea, wanna make-out in that corner over there?”  
“Barf, barf”, Nea made an offensive gesture towards Jake.  
Jake laughed again, then got up and walked towards the Shack, presumably hungry. Nea laid down on the grass and looked up at the moonlit sky. Meg and Feng began carrying Meg’s sculpture back to the Shack, asking Dwight, Ace and Nea to join them for dinner. Ace laid down on the ground too, looking at Dwight with a worn-out face.  
Dwight, in reality, did not know what to say about David, when asked by the others. He realized at that moment, that he preferred to sit quietly and think about David, observe him more. 

Dwight wanted to smother that scarred but angelic face and those thirsty lips with gentle and meaningful slow kisses – caress that strong jaw, and delicately brush that hair. He reminded himself with the utmost strictness that he was not some hormonal teenager. Before entering the Entity’s dimension, he had felt love once. It could not materialize, despite starting on a pleasant note. It was just before the Entity sucked him on to its world.  
With his eyes all teary, Dwight absent-mindedly started to sing, “Look at the stars, look how they shine for you…”  
Dwight’s singing voice was still good. It had not yet got affected negatively, in spite of the daily screaming at the trials. Ace joined in. Nea at first, muttered in regret that she had not brought her broken guitar from her locker. Then she shrugged and joined the boys in singing.


	3. 3. Little Shadow. To the Night, will You Follow Me?

“See Claudette, now that reminds one of ‘ome!”

Dwight recognized that inimitable voice. The speaker was all over his mind, since the day he saw the former’s face. He blushed, but kept a straight face and a straight singing voice, pretending not to hear David speak. His eyes were slowly turned to the ground and he saw three pairs of shoes in front. David, Claudette and Bill. 

Dwight dared not to look up, lest he saw David’s face. Internally, he wanted the ground to break open, with him dragged in it. He could not fathom the degree with which he was infatuated with David’s sheer rugged gorgeousness. He closed his eyes and breathed deeply and slowly, to prevent himself from getting panic attacks. His palms were already sweaty.

“Oh yeah, you’re from England, the way the band is”, said Claudette, her eyes widening.  
“I’m specifically from Manchester”, David smiled weakly. “Not that I miss them much.”  
“Note to self”, Dwight whispered to himself.  
“So y’all singin’ it to welcome our new friend here, or wut’?”, Bill chuckled. “C’mon kids, Daddy starvin’!”  
Dwight blushed again.

Dwight could not sleep. He saw some of his “foster” family members dozing off on the floor of the Shack. Jake and Feng were missing – probably spending some alone-time somewhere else. Dwight was happy for them. Ace was snoring, as usual. By this time, they have all got used to Ace and Bill’s snoring. Dwight has been accused of snoring sometimes, too, despite his small and thin stature. Dwight had noticed that Laurie and Ace were getting close, with the passing of each day. Laurie used to hate Ace, in the initial days. She did not show her growing soft corner for Ace in front of everybody, but Dwight was quite instinctive about these things. Bill and David were also not there on the floor. Then again, Bill sometimes slept alone at other parts of the Realm. David was probably like that, too.

Dwight smiled to himself at the random thoughts that he was having, at the time when he should be sleeping. Then again, moments like these when a survivor smiles, are moments which make the Entity’s world liveable. Dwight was grateful for his “foster” family in the Realm. It was due to this familial bond that each of them shared with one another, in various degrees, that helped each of them not to be drained-off their emotions and their souls and get thrown into the Void, by the Entity. He did hear horror stories from survivors of the other dimensions, during trials, that a couple of the teammates of their verses met with that kind of a fate!  
Dwight came out of the Killer Shack to the open field. He startled at a scrap of paper that gently hit his head. Of course, it had to be from the Entity. However, it wasn’t time for the trials, yet. He picked it up and then began to read:

Profile: David King  
Brief History:  
1\. Birth – Manchester, UK. The well-known King Family.  
2\. Exceptional achievements in both academics and sports.  
3\. Had potential as a serious Rugby player, but dropped and banned for assaulting a referee.  
4\. Massive anger issues and fought professionally for clandestine fight-clubs. Worked as hired henchman.

Dwight’s mouth and throat instantly became dry. His eyes became so big that they might have fallen out of the sockets, at that time. He had to read what was written on that scrap of paper multiple times. His heartbeat increased. He and David had not yet directly spoken. He was looking forward to a day in the future, when they might be communicating with each other a little better – with Dwight successfully hiding his own attraction towards the latter. After reading the message, his head felt a little woozy. He felt a panic attack coming.  
The message disappeared and on that same paper a new message appeared:

EVERYONE ELSE WILL KNOW

The paper fell from Dwight’s sweaty hands, due to his nervousness, and disappeared. Dwight realized that sooner or later this does happen: The Entity sends scraps to each survivor, containing some brief information about the new person who it sucks-in. All except that particular person are able to see those pieces of paper. After sometime the papers disappear, like all the other pieces of papers everybody receives at other times. This happens in the killer community too, he has heard. So The Nurse, Hillbilly, The Wraith and others might be receiving scraps of paper containing information about the animal-mask-lady with the hatchets?  
After taking some deep breaths, Dwight started walking towards the wilderness and soon saw David and Bill sitting on the logs. Feng and Jake were also standing there.

“Hey Kiddo, join us. Couldn’t sleep… Like us?”, hollered Bill.  
Dwight froze when he realized that David was probably looking at him.  
“Thanks Bill but… Sorry, I c-can’t… I’ll just go to the restrooms and then head back. Need to catch up on sleep… Y-you guys enjoy. Bye.”  
Dwight quickly changed his direction to that towards the restrooms.  
“Dunno what we’re gonna do without that kid. He’s got the best brain. The best experience out here”, Bill boomed, with conviction in his voice.  
Everybody nodded in assent to that.

A few more Respites passed. Might have been four or five.  
Dwight knew that all the other co-survivors now know some of David’s chequered past – thanks to the Entity’s messages. He preferred not to talk about David with the others. He had to think more.  
Whenever David came up in any conversation with his co-survivors, Dwight either kept quiet or changed the topic. Thank God, nobody had yet suspected what was happening in his mind and heart, when it comes to David.  
Bill, it seemed, was the only one David opened up the most to – probably because Bill was everybody’s father figure. Everybody thought that they could blindly depend on him. Everybody had a similar feeling towards Dwight as well, despite his age. Bill and Dwight were the cushion-figures of all the other survivors – the courageous, brainy and the mature duo.  
On two occasions David had sat with the others, mostly quiet. Dwight could not help but stare at him discreetly and longingly, time to time. David perplexedly caught him once or twice gazing at him, to which Dwight was embarrassed and had quickly turned his eyes to the ground. Dwight was sure that David had never looked at him out of his own will. David might have never had the thought of even looking at Dwight with some interest, let alone considering Dwight as a possible romantic option. This thought seemed to pierce right through Dwight’s chest, causing him to actually feel pain – the hooks were not painful, dying in the trials was not painful. Enough.

There was a recent heated exchange between David and Ace. Dwight did not exactly remember what it was about, but was surprised to see that all the others had suddenly become aloof towards the both of them. Nobody interfered in it. Some of them just walked away from the Campfire. Bill was not there at that moment, otherwise he would have become the peacemaker, Dwight thought.  
Dwight whispered to Claudette beside him whether he should cut in. Claudette grabbed his hand and led him away from the place. It was more or less established that Ace and David weren’t exactly fans of each other. Also, that the others wouldn’t want to directly come in David’s way, with their new knowledge about his past.  
Dwight found this weird. Their “foster” family was all about togetherness, non-judgement, unity and resolving problems together. Somewhere in David’s case, those things were going out of the window. He talked to Bill and Claudette about it, the next day. Bill kindly reassured him that if anything of that sort happens again when he is around, he will take a positive action. Claudette dodged the issue.  
Dwight longed for a situation where he might get an opportunity to directly interact with David, when the others weren’t looking. He viewed David as a mystery and he wanted to crack the code. It wasn’t really a game. He had genuinely started to care for David. Maybe that’s why it was taking ages to study David closely, get nearer to him.

During the trials, Dwight saw David occasionally. He could not get the scope to interact with him, even though he sacrificed his life in one of the trials with The Huntress (yes, the animal-mask and hatchet lady had a name now!) to distract her, so that the David in that trial could escape through the hidden hatch. It might also mean that ‘that’ David were from another verse. ‘That’ David would not know ‘this’ Dwight. Even though he would know Dwight, in general.  
Dwight knew that when you realize that you are genuinely falling for someone, in spite of the fact that they might not be the “ideal” person, you cannot force things, manipulate situations. Falling for David was silent and a stinging torment, in the garb of something peaceful. You have to set the object of your affection free, you have to be the person with the bigger heart. You have to be patient for them to realize your feelings, come to you out of their own free will. You cannot force someone to love you back.


	4. 4. I'm Weak, And What's Wrong with That?

David continued to consume Dwight’s mind. Dwight did not know what to do. He prayed that the feelings would go away within a few more days, but they kept on getting more intense! Remaining silent and keeping a poker face was all that Dwight could do. But for how long?  
Around the Campfire, when David would casually direct a question towards where Nea, Claudette and Dwight would sit, Dwight would either keep quiet or mutter a response looking at someone else, dragging them to that conversation.  
Laurie, Claudette, Jack and Meg had also asked him personally why he had become quieter than before. He had to dodge that question with his wit and delayed responses.  
Dwight was losing sleep. After dinner, when the others were sleeping, Dwight kept waking up after a couple of hours. He would then venture outside, take a walk. Still, sleep did not come to him.  
He saw David sleeping, sometimes in the Shack with the majority of them, sometimes near the fire, where Bill and Jake would sometimes sleep. Jake had invited him too, to sleep outside the Shack. He had to decline because David might be there. Obviously.  
Often times, after seeing David sleeping and then going onward with his nightly walk, Dwight would start to cry. He would kneel down on the middle of the thin wilderness of that sub-Realm and cover his face, crying uncontrollably.  
He had soon found a possible coping-mechanism: Avoid David. Don’t be where he would be. The rest of the day would go-by in the trials. During the Respite, he could leave the space where David would be. This is doable. For now.  
Dwight clenched his fists and took a deep breath in one of his walks, when this realization awashed his brain.

While Dwight was getting himself together, he heard a familiar voice from the back.  
“Nea? Woah!”  
Nea had an annoyed look on her face. “I couldn’t sleep! Claudie refused me today. A-gain!”  
“Well, ‘no’ means ‘no’, Nea. She might not at all be interested in dating women, or dating at all right now. She might just see you as a good friend. Both of us have talked about it, right?”, explained Dwight.  
“O---Kay! I won’t approach her ever again. As it is I’m hopeless. When I was a child, my crush Justin refused me. Here, Jake teases me in spite of having Feng, but I’m not into him. Grrrr!... But what I find annoying is all the mumbo-jumbo she says about the future. Some guy is gonna come. He will be her soulmate and shit. Some young black guy is gonna come to the Realm, soon. Can you imagine this shit, Dwighty?”  
“Jake just jokes around… Well the kind of place that we’re living in, Nea, and the experiences that we’re having in the trials, I can believe anything. Nothing is impossible. And Claudie has those rare visions, right? Things do happen. She predicted The Doctor, remember?”  
Nea shrugged, kissed Dwight on the cheek and then left for a short jog by herself, to clear her head. Dwight thought of calling her and asking if she had any spare cigarettes. He was in the mood for smoking today. After a long time.  
While returning to the Shack, he found Bill sleeping under a tree. He lied down beside Bill and cuddled him from behind, just like a small child does to its parent or grandparent. He really needed to hug someone or get hugged, at that time. Bill was his go-to papa bear, after all. Sleep came easily to Dwight, then.

On the day of the next trial, they all woke up, quickly got ready and went down to the basement to find the “breakfast” buffet magically appear, as usual. It would also disappear after half an hour – they all knew.  
Dwight was happy to see the chicken-salad and bacon. He began filling up his plate, with Claudette and Jake next to him. Jake soon went to be with Feng in a corner, and Meg called Claudette over for a quick but important discussion. Now Dwight was standing and eating by himself at a side of the table.  
“Ah, there’s my fav’rit pasta!”, the only British male voice among his “foster” family almost boomed in Dwight’s ears. It was too late for Dwight to take cover. Without warning his aghast eyes locked with that of David King’s – who, it seemed, had almost teleported right beside him!

David beamed a smile and took some of the delicious pasta on to his plate. He turned to Dwight and politely asked whether he would like some.  
Dwight noticed that David’s defined forearm looked even more delicious, up-close.  
Not knowing what to do or say, Dwight did not respond and quickly walked away, eyes straight ahead, and joined Ace and Nea. They were a safer bet. He did not go towards Bill or Jake, because David would land up there eventually.  
Bill was David’s best friend now, and Jake and Claudette had been following them around. They even worked out together, nowadays – Jake, Bill and David. Dwight had never dared to go where they worked-out. He would run in the opposite direction, lest any embarrassing or awkward moment arose.  
Dwight realized that David might not like the way he walked away. However, that was not the time to think of it. Their first trial was about to start…

On the fourth trial of that day, Dwight spawned with the Nea from his own verse. They could not see the other two survivors, yet, but were very happy to find each other.  
The killer over there was a lazy Hag, whom they immediately saw and started running away. She hollered at them, saying that she was too sleepy and angry with the Entity that day, and would catch up on her sleep at the top of the nearest hill. They should just get the generators repaired, spawn the exit gate, then get the heck out of there. She would not care. Then she pranced along and disappeared into the fog, singing some weird song.  
Nea and Dwight looked at each other’s pale faces for a couple of minutes with their fallen jaws, and eyes that seemed about to fall off their sockets. Nea burst out laughing and Dwight tried hard to control his laughter. Trials like these and killers like these were rare occasions!  
As the both of them looked for the nearest generator together, they heard two loud male voices – apparently there was a fight going on, nearby.  
Slowly and carefully Nea and Dwight approached at the direction of the sound. Lo and behold! Ace and David arguing and punching each other. 

“Can you believe it! Ace is fighting with someone like David? Is he a lunatic?”, shouted Nea. She then ran towards them and yelled at both of them.  
“David! Please go to that direction and find a generator. Ace! Go to the other direction and find a generator. No more words, okay?... What if we had a serious killer, this time?”, Nea’s voice sounded acidic at that moment, like a commander. Dwight loved it and thoroughly enjoyed the scene. He grinned.  
The two men grunted and walked away on opposite directions. Dwight quickly went to Ace to ask him if he were okay, then came back to Nea.  
“This is rare – spawning with all co-survivors of one’s own verse”, Dwight pointed out. “They are from our verse itself, right?”  
“Yeah Man, what to tell ya’. These two even had a fight before the trials began today. After breakfast. Too much of toxic testosterone!”, informed Nea.  
“Oh! I did not know that. I headed early upstairs. Then I was taking out my cap from the locker.”  
“It happened after you went up, followed by Bill and Jake. All of a sudden, we find these two at each other’s throats! I was talking to Meg and Feng at that time”, said Nea.  
“This is concerning. Why do they fight?”, asked Dwight.  
“None of them talk about it. Not even Ace. They just fight. They can’t stand each other, I guess.”  
“I’ll talk to Bill and the others about it. This needs to get resolved”, sighed Dwight. “Anyway, let’s find the Jenny-s and get the heck out-ta here?”  
Nea nodded and the two proceeded with their search.

Outside the exit gate, Nea and Dwight waited for the other two. Dwight somewhere knew that he had to wait for someone in particular, and he hated himself for it at that time.  
“They might have gone through the other exit door”, said Nea.  
“They’re still inside. There’s no message in the sky. Look”, Dwight reminded her.  
“Oh I think I hear Ace”, Nea jumped.  
To the surprise of the both of them, Ace and The Hag killer came out of the gate together, having an animated conversation! Dwight could not even think of the last time such a thing happened.  
“This Hottie here has a hot-hot date!”, laughed Ace.  
“Aww, ye’ pesky kids! Get outta here. I’m getting late for mah special face-lift”, The Hag grinned and winked at them.  
Dwight could swear that she might be the coolest killer that he had ever encountered. Of all time!  
“There’s one of us left to get out”, said Dwight.  
“What’s taking that bulldozer so long?”, complained Nea.  
“Whatever!”, said The Hag annoyingly, and then went back inside.  
Ace was also getting irritated. His face showed it.  
“Nea and Ace, you guys go along. I’ll be right there with you”, said Dwight.  
“You sure?”, asked Nea.  
Dwight nodded and then gestured to the both of them to proceed. He then stood there, waiting. There was no message in the sky that David had left, even though the notification of Nea and Ace leaving that Realm, soon appeared in glowing red letters. Dwight’s longing eyes felt relieved after five more minutes or so, when he saw David running towards his gate, towards him. Their eyes locked. Dwight felt a slight jolt and wondered whether David could see his naked face, where uninhibited streams of raw emotions and the perpetual ache for David ran. When David was at the gate, Dwight turned his glum face around and ran towards the end of the Realm, disappearing at the portal to another Realm, another trial. Was he wishing to have David in the next trial too? Perhaps not. Dwight already had had enough for that day.

Nea and Ace joked around the Campfire about that funny Hag killer and her antics. The rest of them were amused. Bill and Feng even shouted that the both of them were lying. Claudette made Dwight some hot chocolate in the Shack, and Dwight slowly came and sat down on the logs, sipping it quietly.  
When he awoke at the Campfire Realm at Respite, Dwight did not go to the Campfire immediately. David would have been there, surely. He went to the Shack, where he found Claudette, Jake and Meg making dinner. Chinese food, that evening! Jake wasn’t being useful by clowning around, so they soon kicked him out.  
The fire was big, the crackling sound was soothing. Dwight’s unsteady eyes soon found David in a dark corner on the logs beside Feng, polishing his boots with a stoic facial expression.  
Dwight bit his lips and looked down. Then looked up again, looking at David’s direction but not directly at him. Yet another moment, where he hated himself.  
Laurie strummed the broken guitar, while most of the “foster” family members sang. Soon, most of them started dancing around the fire in spite of being tired from the trials of that day. Ace started singing “Things We lost in the Fire…”, joined by many of them.  
Having finished his hot drink by that time, Dwight remained seated on the logs and discreetly looked once at David. David returned his gaze, soon. David’s face was as stoic as before, even though he did smile a couple of times in the general direction, during the singing and dancing. Dwight looked away, feeling embarrassed. He then looked at the others singing and dancing and clapped along, smiling.  
A few minutes later, without Dwight’s awareness, David came over and sat down almost beside Dwight. Dwight shivered. He knew too well that he would not be able to handle David being in such close proximity to him. He felt his panic attacks coming-in. Dwight got up and immediately started walking away from the logs and the fire towards the Killer Shack, where no one else was at that moment. He could sense David’s eyebrows getting pulled-down as he looked at him leaving, and then David standing up. 

Dwight quietly entered the Shack, opened his locker, took out his t-shirts and laid them on a nearby table. He feigned arranging them, when his eyes welled-up and he started sobbing. He knew he had to be as quiet as possible then as well, lest anyone found out.  
He was putting himself together after a few minutes, brushing the tears from his face and eyes, when he heard a gentle knock on the door at the back.  
He did not look back. He took a deep breath, head up his head and just looked ahead. Silent.  
“Everything aw’right, Mate?”, there was the voice that he wanted to hear the least, at that time!


	5. 5. I cannot Fight the Sleep is Droning, Into the Motion Into the Night

“Dwight? You aw’right?”, Dwight’s brawny British Hercules in his stunning black jacket called out from the Shack door at the back.  
Dwight paused for some more time, then took another deep breath. He then continued feigning to rearrange his t-shirts, pretending that except for him there were no one else there. Frankly speaking, he did not know how to face David – what to say to him, how to act around him. He wanted some low-key behaviour out of himself in that situation. That was exactly what he was trying to do.

David entered the Shack and came a little closer.  
“I’ve been talkin’ to ye’”, David sounded calmer with much effort, breathier and huskier. He had never sounded like that before.  
Dwight remained silent. He had no words. Still.  
“I’ve been callin’ ye’r name.”  
Silence.  
“G’dammit! I’m standin’ righ’ e’re, callin’ ye’r name, Dwight!”

“Stop it!”, Dwight said without turning back. “Stop yelling at me.”  
David took a deep breath. “I’m sorry if ye feel that way. Ye weren’t respondin’ to me.”  
“Okay, I have responded. Happy now?... Now could you leave me alone, please?”  
“What is wrong?”  
“David please, please go from here.”  
David came even closer, instead.  
“Why? Ye been ignorin’ me and avoidin’ me, since the day I came ‘ere. I need to know why.”  
“David please! Please!”  
Dwight felt as if David’s eyes were slowly becoming moist. His voice was slowly cracking, as well.  
“I’ve talked to all the others, ‘ere, but ye won’t talk to me. Ye would look at me, but won’t talk to me.”  
“David, please go. Please…”  
“Whenever I come near ye, ye walkin’ away… I don’t like that.”

Teary-eyed, Dwight turned around to face the buffed-up British beast of a man. He was standing way closer to Dwight than Dwight had imagined. The beast breathed heavily.  
Dwight closed his eyes and slowly muttered with a cracked voice, “How does it matter to you, David, that I don’t talk to you? That I don’t come near you? That I walk away from you? You have got so many other people here, who are now your friends. You could hang out with them. Why should it matter if little ol’ Dwight communicates with you or not?”  
David put his arms around Dwight and held both of the latter’s fists tightly at the latter’s back. Dwight did not feel the need to protest in any way.  
David brought his face much, much closer to Dwight’s. “Who are ye to look after what should matter to me and what shouldn’t?”  
Dwight now gazed intently at those gorgeous, hypnotic eyes, cleared his throat and said, “Exactly. Who am I to you, David King? Who am I… to you?”  
David did not say anything this time. He just gazed at Dwight’s eyes with equal, if not with more intensity. His jaw clenched. His heavy breath was the only sound that could be heard.

“David… You need to know something. I don’t know if you would like to hear it. Maybe after hearing it, you would not like to be around me.”  
“F—k! Ye were the one who was pushin’ me away! All this time”, David muttered.  
“We haven’t spoken. How would I matter to you?”, Dwight sighed, biting his lips yet again.  
David smiled. “Exactly. We haven’t spoken much. How would I then matter to… you?”  
“David, I don’t have any control on how much I would like to look after you… I thought I did not matter to you, and that thought has been killing me continuously. All I want is to be around you. From the day I saw your face. I can’t get you out of my head. I tried, but I can’t”, Dwight muttered, tears streaming down from his shut eyes.

David started wiping the tears from Dwight’s face with his right hand, and almost caressed his cheeks and jaw. His other hand still held one of Dwight’s hands, where he gave a warm squeeze and whispered lovingly, “I’m listenin’.”  
“It’s of no use, me wanting to be with you… These kind of feelings… I feel like a fool for ever thinking that someone like you would ever be interested in someone like me… You are way out of my league, David. You’re straight, I guess… I don’t want to be involved in some stupid unrequited love, but I can’t stop thinking about you”, said Dwight, with much more discomfort in his voice.

Suddenly, with an apparently irritated look, David punched on the wooden wall. He let his grip on Dwight’s hand go.  
Dwight became a little scared, inside. He moved a few inches away.

“Hey! What’s goin’ on?... Dwighty?”, Meg and Laurie were about to enter the Shack.  
Dwight looked straight at David’s eyes, expressing a mix of annoyance and anger. Then quickly walked out of the Shack with the two girls.

David’s nostrils flared. His jaws clenched tighter. Flexing his forearms, he went out of the door ahead and ran to a nearby tree. He began punching the tree trunk, hard. Multiple times. At that time, he was the equivalent to an angry bull.  
When he calmed down a bit, he found that all his clothes were drenched in sweat. He took off his jacket and t-shirt, and plonked down under that tree, with red knuckles.

It might have been half an hour. David awoke from his emotional stupor when he heard footsteps. Nea, Bill and Laurie had come over.  
With an angry voice, Laurie spoke first, looking at Bill and Nea. “Are you two gonna start speaking or I will?”  
Bill gestured her to go ahead.  
Laurie crouched in front of David and said, “What happened in the Shack?”  
David, as expected, did not respond.  
“I asked you a question, God Dammit! What did you do?”  
David stared at Laurie almost blankly.  
“What’cha gonna do? Hit me like you did to everybody back in the day?”, Laurie screamed.  
“Easy… Relax, Laurie”, said Bill. “Move away, move away!”  
Bill and Nea sat down around David, while Laurie walked away a bit and stood with her eyebrows furrowed.  
Bill asked with utmost gentleness, “David, can ya tell me somethin’? Not that I don’t trust you or anythin’, but… Did something happen between you and Dwighty, while we were all at the campfire?”  
David took a deep breath, then asked, “Where is Dwight now?”  
“He is somewhere safe, with a few of us. I don’t think it’s good if the both of you come face to face, right now”, said Bill. “But I’m waitin’ for your answer.”  
“Is he okay? Please tell me?”, pleaded David.  
“F—k you! You hurt him, didn’t you?”, screamed Laurie.  
“Laurie, no!”, boomed Bill. Then he asked David gently again. “I know you wouldn’t hurt my child, would you? Dwight is my child, like Nea, Feng and all of them here. I trust you won’t ever do that.”  
“We’ll maybe not in the case of Visconti”, David smiled. “Did Dwight tell ye’all that I have hurt ‘im?”  
“Dwight has been crying continuously for the past maybe an hour or so! We all are trying our best to console him. He can’t speak. He’s sniffling and sobbing”, Nea retorted.  
“We’re worried, as usual. That’s why you have to tell us”, Bill said, glumly.  
David turned his face away, disturbed, pained.  
“I would never dream of hurtin’ ‘im in any way… I don’t know how to explain it to ye’all… I have to speak with ‘im before sayin’ anything… I’m sorry”, said David with an almost-choked voice.  
“I don’t understand what’cha sayin’?”, snapped Bill.  
“What ‘appened in the Shack wasn’t pleasant… Between us, but… We were fightin’, but we weren’t fightin’ like… usual fights”, David muttered and started to hide his face.

“Oh I get it!”, Nea started laughing. “Meg’s hunch was right.”  
Everyone looked at Nea.  
“Guys relax! It was a lover’s tiff!”, Nea gave the biggest grin and shrugged.  
“Oh my!”, Laurie’s face fell with a pleasant shock.  
Bill grunted, chuckled, got up, then walked away. Nea was still laughing. David mischievously winked at Nea and gestured her to keep quiet.

By and by most of the survivors came over to meet David and congratulate him with whatever had started between him and Dwight, that night. David wanted to keep a chilled-out air and replied with the same sentence to everyone: “Guys, ye’all’z getting way ahead of yer’selves. I have to discuss it with ‘im. Till then, don’t assume anythin’. Please!”

“Man, we’re happy for ya’ both but after what happened tonight, you two need some space. Am kinda shocked… Pleasantly. That both of you swing that way!”, said Jake.  
“Jake! Manners! David, we have asked him, but neither does he want to talk about it, nor does he want to see you”, Feng added.  
“Like forever? ‘e doesn’t want to see me ever again? ‘E said?” David exclaimed, with googly eyes and eyebrows shooting up.  
“He’s just being a shithead a—clown! Just tonight, Man”, Jake laughed.  
“He’s sleeping. Let’s see how he feels before the trials… About this and about you, David”, said Meg.  
“Y’all go get some sleep”, boomed Bill.  
“Do you have feelings for my friend, David?”, asked Claudette.  
“Please, Claudette. I have to talk to ‘im first. I can’t say anything to anyone, till I ‘ave sat down with ‘im. I can only say this now, that I want to see ‘im as soon as possible!... I ‘ave a request. Please bring ‘im teh the Shack. He’ll sleep more comfortably, over there. I know he doesn’t want to see me now. I’ll not be near the Shack, then”, David responded with a faraway look and a furrowed forehead. Then he quickly got up and walked off, into the wilderness. Nothing mattered to him at this point, except Dwight’s comfort and safety.

David knew that he would not be able to sleep, that night. Dwight was too exhausted because of the emotional upheaval. He needed to sleep, he needed to rest. Another big day, the next day – The next set of trials.  
He slowly walked towards the Shack. Bill was sleeping on the big rock, nearby. There was no other sound of any other survivor. Everyone might have fallen asleep.  
Carefully David peered into a window, trying his best to remain invisible. He saw everybody on the Shack floor, sleeping in their sleeping-bags or their sleeping-mats – some using the blankets, while others not. It was a good thing that there were no mosquitoes. There was no rain or heat of the sun. The weather was always pleasantly cool, with cool winds blowing. It was one of the climate, flora and fauna-controlled environments of the Entity.  
David could then see Dwight’s Raphaelite cherubim-face. He was relieved and beyond happy to see him safe and doing much better. He wanted to keep looking at that face, for the rest of the night.

After Dwight woke up before breakfast, he looked around. Nope, no David. He could not understand whether he needed to be happy or upset, not to see him. He was definitely not happy.  
“Say Nea, have you seen David?”  
“Why you wanna see him?”  
“No. No. I just don’t want to be in the same space as him, right now. Y’know. The trials are about to begin and I’m so pissed! I’ll think about it after the trials… Just let me know if he’d be coming to the food-buffet. Then I’ll go somewhere else.”  
“He knows it. Are you okay, Sweetie?”  
“Thanks. Love ya’”, Dwight hugged Nea. “Make sure he eats. I’ll go somewhere else. Bring him to the buffet.”  
“Okay, I’m telling Claudette… He did request us to bring you here to sleep, and that he would go elsewhere.”  
“Thanks, Nea. Bring me food from the buffet”, said Dwight, getting up, absent-minded.

Claudette and Nea found David practice-punching a tree in the wilderness. He was looking dapper in a sleeveless black t-shirt, and military trousers.  
“David, let’s go have breakfast”, said Claudette.  
“Where’s ‘e?”, David asked, without looking at either of them.  
“Did you sleep well? Dwight is elsewhere. He wanted you to go to the buffet, before the trials begin”, said Claudette.  
“I’m not 'ungry”, grunted David.  
“He wants some more time, but he is concerned about you. He is asking us all the time whether you are okay”, said Claudette.  
“If e’s so concerned about me, ‘e should come to me ‘imself and say that. Ye lasses don’t waste time. Have yer food. I’m fine. I’ll be ‘ere till the trials begin.”


	6. 6. I'm Stumblin' Home, Just Thinking about You

Dwight had not even showered before breakfast. He had quickly grabbed one of Jake’s t-shirts that were lying on one of the tables and had just ran to the restroom, where it was confirmed that David didn’t go. He was still in his night-trousers. His friends had brought him food, because he did not go to the buffet.

After the trials of the day, when he awoke in the Respite alone, he cautiously trotted to the Shack, making sure that David wasn’t there. Meg was ironing her dresses.  
“Hey!”  
“Hey Dweetster! How were your matches?”, Meg smiled.  
“I didn’t die in any, thank God… Did you see anyone else yet? Are they at the fire?”  
“If you mean David, I haven’t seen him. I saw Bill and probably Jake. They’re there at the fire. Feng is at the basement. The raw material for cooking dinner will arrive any time now”, said Meg.  
“Okay”, said Dwight with a smile and then proceeded to his locker. “Y’know Megs, I didn’t want to run into David today… I did see a couple of Davids at my trials, but I also knew that they were not him. So that was good.”  
“You could tell?”, Meg asked, surprised.  
Dwight nodded.

As soon as Dwight opened his locker, a folded piece of paper fell out. It looked as if someone earlier had inserted it into the locker from its bottom.  
“So, how are things with you and David?”, Meg asked.  
“I’ll be right back”, said Dwight, and darted out of the back door, holding the paper secretively.  
Arriving at an isolated clearing amid the trees, Dwight started to unfold the paper. His heart was beating faster, his body was heating up. He had a very clear idea who the paper was from. The paper was recognizable. It was from David’s sketchbook, that only had two very bad sketches!  
Something was written on the paper, and it was bordered with various little doodles: leaves, plants, flowers, little animals and cartoon characters. Dwight was taking time to take it all in – shaking. No one had given him anything of this sort. Ever!  
He now tried to read the writing, in the moonlight:

"Caught in a street fight  
You need a lifeline  
Go on, and use me  
I'll be your Bruce Lee

Under the street lights  
I'll wait a lifetime  
Just like the movies  
I'll be your Bruce Lee"

PS – NOT my poem. Just a funny song-lyric that’s always stuck on my head. Heard it in a taxicab once. Hope that it made you smile for a moment.  
I’m really sorry if I have hurt your feelings, Dwight.  
Find me if you want to see my face.  
Yours,  
D.

Dwight shivered and could not bar his from tears streaming down.  
He sat down and stared at the paper for a few minutes, then looked up to the sky.  
He looked at the moon and wondered if David and he would take a romantic stroll someday, beneath such moonlight.  
David did have something inside him for Dwight, it was proved. Unless someone else was playing a prank on him – But that was highly unlikely. Dwight needed to know what was going on inside David’s mind.  
Dwight had to find David then. He got up after a while and headed towards the Shack. He had to really get ready to face David, mentally. He was scared a little – David would see him at dinner, how would he react, and so on. Thoughts like these raced in his mind.

When Dwight went to the Shack-basement where dinner was served every time, he was puzzled not to see David.  
Nea, Claudette, Laurie, nobody had seen David, that night. Dwight closed his eyes, momentarily and took a deep breath. He then took a plate and filled it up with some scrumptious Shepherd’s pie and Roast chicken, with mashed potatoes and gravy. He smiled when he realized that the Entity might have purposefully sent the type of food, which would remind David of home. He told Nea and Claudette that he was going to find David in the wilderness, and that they need not worry if he is late. Nea laughed out loud but encouraged her dear friend. Claudette and Bill smirked. Dwight had made it up in his mind that he would make that night David’s night – the universe was signalling it.

Dwight kept on walking instinctively through the wilderness – holding a covered plate of dinner.  
The wilderness of the Campfire sub-Realm wasn’t as thick as that of the Red Forest Realm or The Swamp. It was rather thin, so it would be easier to find somebody in it. Nobody would get lost in such grove of trees and plants.  
Dwight walked in the direction his sixth sense was leading him, until he saw the glow of a bonfire. He adjusted his hair and the white shirt that he wore only on special occasions, feeling a bit nervous. Pausing for a moment and taking a couple of deep breaths, he proceeded slowly.  
David had lighted a fire and was sitting cross-legged on the ground, polishing a felling-axe. He had on a blue patterned tank-top vest, which put up an impressive display of his magnificent bulging biceps. His forearm tattoo of a lion shone in all its glory.  
From a distance, Dwight was intimidated by David’s towering appearance, yet he reminded himself that in matters of the heart the two people involved do not scare one another away. It takes courage, authenticity and an attempt to respect and forgive each other. Dwight cared for David and he should be honest about it. There was nothing wrong with wanting to be with someone, and eventually telling them that. Why should Dwight be afraid? Why should he be ashamed?

David heard a rustling in the bush in front and looked up. A thin and small bespectacled cherub of a man, who he recognized all too well, emerged slowly from it. This man looked dapper in a whitest-of-white shirt and jet-black fitted jeans. The white Nikes added to the cool quotient! David could not understand what to do or say, so he remained stoic. He did internally feel an electric shock, and his heart started pounding faster. He remained seated on the ground, axe in hand.  
Dwight mumbled awkwardly after taking a deep breath, “I-I got you dinner.” He showed David the food-plate, then slowly sat down on the ground in front of him, keeping some distance – with the plate on his lap.  
Dwight somehow then got the courage to look straight at David’s eyes. However, David awkwardly looked here and there, unable to lock eyes with Dwight. He surprised himself by realizing that after all that he had done and had gone through, this little cherub was making him all shaky and flustered!  
“It’s all that you love. Just have a look at the food. They are all your favourite items”, said Dwight, smiling with utmost kindness.  
David remained silent, looking at the ground.  
A concern appeared in Dwight’s voice. He said gently, “I heard that you have not eaten anything today… No breakfast before the matches… This is not done! Why would you do such a thing?”  
David did not react.  
“Have something, David.”  
No response.  
“Please…”  
No response, yet again.  
Dwight moved much closer to David, with silent courage.  
The crackling sound of the bonfire intensified for a moment.  
Taking some Roasted chicken on a spoon, Dwight smilingly took it closer to David’s closed mouth.  
“You need to eat, Tiger… C’mon, don’t do this to me”, Dwight whispered.  
David closed his eyes and grunted, “’M not ‘ungry.”  
Dwight sighed and replied firmly, “I’m not moving until you have something. Also, I’m not eating until you do.”  
David’s eyes then widened with surprise. “Ye ‘aven’t eaten yet?”  
“How could I eat if you didn’t?”, Dwight retorted, shrugging.  
David could not say anything and started looking here and there, awkwardly.  
“C’mon, open your mouth”, Dwight whispered, lovingly.  
David could not help but do as he was told. It was as if a force prevented him from resisting any more. He felt like a robot, blindly following Dwight’s instructions.  
The food was delicious and reminded him of home. He did not realize that he was so hungry at that moment! He was also aware that the food was only for one person.  
“What will ye eat?”  
“It’s fine, David”, Dwight smiled and replied, as he continued feeding the now-adorable beast.  
“No it’s not! Ye should go, before it all disappears.”  
“I’m not going anywhere, Tiger”, Dwight said, smiling again.  
David gently took the spoon from Dwight, put some food on it and tried to feed Dwight. “Now ye… ye’r turn”, he said, smiling.  
Dwight obliged, shrugging.  
After both of them had shared a plate of food with the spirit of utmost care for one another, the plate and the spoon disappeared into thin air as soon as Dwight put it on the ground.  
“That was delicious. But you could not have all of it, because of me”, Dwight slightly pouted with sad eyes.  
“Oh Bollocks! Will ye shut up?”, David chuckled.

Clearing his throat, Dwight whispered, “I got your note… I was able to see it only after I returned from the matches.”  
David did not say anything but gave a goofy grin.  
“I loved the art, and the lyrics were quite sweet… I have kept it with utmost care. Always will… I think I’ll enjoy getting to know this side of David King”, Dwight spoke, delightedly.  
David smiled warmly this time.  
“I have seen your sketchbook earlier, but had no idea you were so talented”, said Dwight.  
“I’m glad ye liked it. And I’m sorry fer the other night. Truly from the bottom of my heart, Dwight!”, said David with his voice cracking.  
“And that makes us touch that subject… We need to talk, David, seriously.”  
“I know. I’m sorry fer the other night… I’m not really used te apologiz’n te people… But with ye, I just … I just feel the need to.”  
“Well… We need to be more clear about how we feel about each other, David. Because I’m unsure and confused about your side.”  
“The way ye were feedin’ me, it reminded me of that birthday. I might ‘ave been elev’n or so. Somethin’ ‘appened. Me Mum fed me dinner. I didn’t ‘ave a party, even my father didn’t visit. I think I was closer to ‘im a bit, at that time.”  
Dwight gently caressed David’s cheek with his left hand. “When was that, Dear? When is your birthday?”, he asked.  
“It’s in the eighth of May, but it was rainin’ heavily that day”, replied David.  
“Oh, David! I’m so sorry that you had to go through that experience”, said Dwight, still caressing David’s face. “If it cheers you up a for a bit, here’s a fun fact. You share your birthday with Ace, out of all people!”  
David chuckled.  
“And Bill and I share the same birthday. The eighteenth of March. Claudette’s is one day after ours.”

“Dwight… I appreciate ye stayin’ and sayin’ te me that ye’ll not leave”, David muttered with a faraway look. “No ‘un has ever said that te me.”  
Dwight went closer to David and cupped his face lovingly, with both of his hands. “I’m right here, Tiger. I’m not going anywhere”, he whispered, gazing deeply into David’s eyes.  
“Ye really like me, Dwight?”, David said with moist eyes. “Knowing I was an ar-----e who did terrible things in me past?”  
“I don’t care, David… There’s always two sides of every story. Maybe more. I’d like to hear your side of it… Someday”, responded Dwight, calmly.  
“I fought for money… I got hired to harm people, Luv.”  
“You’re not going to hurt any one of us. I believe in you, Sweetie”, Dwight retorted, his voice cracking with multiple emotions.

David put his arms around Dwight’s lithe torso and pulled him closer. Dwight’s legs were now wrapped around David’s waist, as he now seated himself on David’s lap. He put his arms around the beast’s neck. Both of them held each other close, in a tight embrace, while gazing into each other’s eyes.  
Only the sound of the fire crackling and their heavy breathing were heard for a short while.  
David started gently kissing Dwight’s jaw and neck. Dwight could not help but moan softly, with raw pleasure.  
Dwight then lovingly prevented David from proceeding further, with his hands. “Woah, David, slow down, God!”  
“Oh, I’m so sorry! I should’ve asked ye first.”  
“Let’s not rush into things, maybe?... I mean, it’s not that I don’t want to do this with you. Trust me, I’d be the luckiest man alive, if you… y’know…”, Dwight’s face became redder than ever, as he spoke. He kissed David on the forehead, gently.  
David nodded, smiling. Perhaps Dwight was, indeed, the cutest thing he had ever seen.  
“Eventually, I’m looking forward to all this and more with you, but I think we need to understand and spend more time knowing each other… Emotionally… I don’t do these things, casually. I become really serious and invested”, Dwight added.  
David nodded in agreement, smiled and said, “Yeah, I’d like that. All nice and slow. Ye’re one hell’u’va Romantic, Luv!”  
Dwight looked down smiling, visibly embarrassed.  
“Aw, it’s okay, Luv… It’s refreshing. I haven’t done this a’while, but I want to. I want to do Romantic stuff, too”, David said, gently kissing Dwight’s left cheek.  
“Do you want to be with me now, David, and see where this goes? Are you sure?”  
“Absolutely.”  
“I don’t play around with people, neither would I like to be played around with”, Dwight said.  
“I know. I would not let anything like that to happen… To ye… Do ye suspect that I’m being casual about this?”, David said, getting puzzled.  
“No it’s not that. I just… Am letting you know how I am.”  
David yawned, smiling. He kissed Dwight’s left cheek, again. “You’re a cutie”, he purred.  
“Let’s get some sleep then, we have a long day tomorrow”, Dwight said, smiling.

They laid down on the ground together, embracing each other. Dwight rested his little head on David’s broad chest, which smelled of musk, with David’s massively strong arms around him. David kissed the top of Dwight’s head. He felt lighter than he had ever felt, for a long while. He had finally started feeling things – feeling the good feelings – the warm and fuzzy sides of life!


	7. 7. Show Them What You Do with Me

The alarm rang, waking the both of them up. They had cuddled and fallen asleep, peacefully, in a clearing within the wilderness.  
“Oof, shites!”, growled David, putting a finger in his right ear, as he sat up.  
“It’s over”, Dwight smiled and said, sitting up. He then gently planted a kiss on David’s massy left upper-arm saying, “Hello gorgeous! Morning.”  
David laughed out loud and pulled Dwight closer to him. Nuzzling against Dwight’s hair and neck, he declared, “I want to kiss ye.”  
“And I so-o-o want to do that too, but this isn’t the right time. We have the trials. There’s practically no time, David. I want our first kiss to be special, under more relaxed circumstances… And I have morning breath”, said Dwight, as he got up hurriedly.  
“Aw, so do I. Do ye think it would matter to me if ye have morning breath? C’mon! Ye like me the way I am, why wouldn’t I like ye the way ye are?”, David lovingly protested.  
“I’m sorry if I made you feel that way, but there’s practically no time, Sweets! We have to head to the Shack, right now. I promise, we’ll catch up and clear everything when we return here. Today, after the trials”, assured Dwight.

David grunted impatiently, “Ye’ave te promise me first, t’let ye kiss fer as long as I wan’te!”  
“We’ll see”, Dwight smiled, replying.  
“No, ye ‘ave te promise!”  
Dwight took a deep breath and said, “Okay. Now could we please head to the Shack and get ready?”  
“Wanna race?”, David smiled and gestured starting a race.  
“Well, in that case be prepared to get your butt kicked! You can’t outrun Dwight Fairfield”, Dwight spoke with a flirtatious tone.  
“I played rugby, for your information, Mr. Fairfield!”  
“And I have been here for the longest. Ask everybody. I am the fastest here.”  
“We’ll see”, David flirted back.  
“Guess, we’ll see”, Dwight chucked and then all of a sudden took-off.  
David laughed out loud, then quickly followed him.

The pre-trial hustle and bustle was such that nobody had the time really, to talk. Everybody would be getting ready and have breakfast as fast as they could, because soon they would be sucked into a Realm by the Entity, for the matches lined-up for the day.  
Dwight reached the Shack way before David did, and straight went to his locker to take out his outfits. Meg was there and asked him how it was. Laurie and Ace looked winked at him. Dwight smiled at all of them and replied how great his night went, then sprinted as fast as he could towards the restrooms.

David got ready as fast as he could, and went down to the breakfast buffet. His puzzled eyes naturally searched for the object of his affection. He could not see him at the moment and his eyes became hungry.  
“Hey Man!”, Jake greeted him, followed by smiles from Bill, Laurie, Meg and Ace, of all people!  
David smiled nervously and said, “Hi, how’re ye guys?”  
Meg winked and said, “So how was last night?”  
David put his hands on the top of his head awkwardly, and grinned. Everybody started laughing.  
“You’re probably wondering where Dudders is”, said Ace.  
“Yeah, he asked us to make sure you had eaten. He had to go with Nea and Feng, because Claudie isn’t okay today. They have taken food with them”, said Meg.  
“Y’better take some food before they all disappear!”, warned Bill.  
Quickly filling his plate, David enquired with eyes widened, “What’s wrong? What ‘appened to Claudette?”  
“Y’know, her visions… She woke up in a sweat and was terrified. We’ll tell you later. There’s no time. Eat up”, said Ace.  
“I’ll run te ‘em if I finish eating quickly”, said David.  
He was pleasantly surprised to see Ace trying to be as cordial with him, as possible. Perhaps, he might try to communicate more effectively with Ace, soon. He had now begun to hate conflicts. His earlier combative nature was slowly diminishing. He could feel it. He was liking what was happening to him, to his own surprise.  
As soon as he finished his food in the basement, David ran upstairs. Before he could go and look for Dwight, Claudette and Nea, he got transported into the first Realm of the matches of the day.

At the end of all the matches of that day, David woke up in the Lampkin Lane, Haddonfield Realm, and upon sitting up saw the Entity’s message on a piece of paper, that it was time for their Respite. That meant that they would be spending time in this Realm, before the matches of the next day. This Realm reminded the survivors of their city-lives in the real world. It had a big suburban street and a few cute houses.  
David was sitting right in the middle of the main street. He got up to determine which way he would be going. He could not see any of his “foster” family members, yet.  
He wanted to see Dwight’s face first, for obvious reasons. He had been a bit ill-tempered after breakfast for not being able to see that almost unearthly bespectacled cherubic face, before the matches began. Perhaps his bad mood helped him with the aggression to save his other teammates during the matches of that day, and escape the hunting grounds every-time. He did see a couple of Dwights, but they weren’t the Dwight he was longing to see.  
It had not been long since he had known Dwight, but he was wanting to be with him, all the time. He had started to feel angry, irritated and anxious when he weren’t able to see Dwight in front of him. Was it his turn to fall hard for Dwight, just as Dwight did – much earlier?

As David walked ahead, he heard people talking in one of the houses. He also saw Nea coming from behind. She had just arrived.  
“Hey, Man!”, she greeted him.  
“Hi there, Mate! How’re ye?”  
“Just glad it’s over for the day. Have ya’ seen the others?”  
“Nej det har jag inte”, shrugged David, as he spoke.  
“Awesome! Känner du svenska?”, Nea said, eyes widened.  
“Lite grann”, David smiled and replied. “I had a couple of Swedish mates… I hear voices from that house. Let’s go.”  
They both jogged to that particular house and found some of their co-survivors.  
David still couldn’t see Dwight, much to his increasing disappointment.  
“Hey guys, we are staying here for the night. Did you both arrive now?”, asked Feng, smiling gleefully.  
“Yeah we did… Are we th’ last ones to arrive?”, said David.  
“I guess so, some of them are scattered around here, somewhere”, said Bill.  
“Bill, how’re ye?... And I see Claudette over there! Hey, Claudette. What went wrong today?”, said David, moving towards Claudette. She was sitting with Laurie and Jake. Jake was busy slurping some ice cream that he had found, God-knew-where!  
Bill grunted in acknowledgement. Claudette took a deep breath and said, “I had a vision. It was terrible. Something bad is about to happen in the future. Someone is coming. And they are nasty.”  
“Who is coming? What did you see?”, asked David, alarmed.  
“I saw a tall shadowy figure, mumbling some strange language!... I think it was a woman. She did not seem to be any of our existing killers. She barfed on me… Literally barfed on me! I was terrified. I saw myself laying on a pool of blood-vomit. Disgusting!... I was inside some ancient ruin. Some strange Church kind of a building”, Claudette mumbled, visibly disturbed.  
“Is that so? That’s bloody-hell disgusting!”, exclaimed David.  
“I know, right?”, Feng said.  
“Well, whatever it is, we’ll fight against it together, Claudette. Don’t ye worry, Mate!”, David assured her with a confident voice.  
“The hell we will!”, boomed Bill.  
Everyone raised their fists up and shouted, “Hell yeah!”  
“Apple juice and ice-creams in the fridge!”, Nea shouted, jumping up.  
“Bring it all here!”, instructed Bill, animatedly.

David suddenly blushed and cleared his throat. Then with a shaky but loud voice he spoke, “Um… Guys, don’t start laughin’, but… Has anyone seen Dwight?” He then raised his left hand and put it on the top of his head, with embarrassment, smiling awkwardly.  
As he had predicted, everyone burst out laughing.  
Laurie spoke, “We have been instructed to keep you here till Ace and Meg arrived. They are with Dwight. They arrived way before we all did. He is planning something for you, tonight.”  
“Oh really?”, David gasped, red-faced with overwhelming excitement.  
“Dwighty is so sweet!”, Feng squealed, lightly clapping her hands.  
“Oh and I am not?”, Jake grunted, complaining. Feng playfully hit him on the head.  
“I’ve never seen him so happy”, said Bill.

  
“Dwight really likes you, David”, Claudette spoke. “He is very deep into this thing. I know it. He is very serious. I hope you don’t mind me saying this to you, but you should really get ready to take on some massive responsibility – that of his heart. He is very sensitive and fragile, when it comes to the matters of the heart, David.”  
Everybody looked at David.  
David nodded slowly in acknowledgement. He opened his mouth to respond, but Nea cut in.  
“He is our best friend. We are his. We’re practically family. Y’know that. Don’t take this the wrong way, but we will keep a look-out for him. I’m sorry, but we will be watching you”, she told very firmly.  
“Nea! Just relax”, said Feng.  
“Nea is not wrong. Y’better say it to him now if ya don’t want to do this with him. Once you’re in it with him, and then ya break my kid’s heart, I swear I’m gonna kick your a--!”, Bill growled.  
“I’ll be the second one to do it”, Jake added.

David momentarily returned to his former self and started getting angry - his blood starting to boil. However, his new-found feelings of pleasure and serenity made him realize that it was just a test. Dwight’s face flashed on his mind.  
He took a deep breath to calm himself down, smiled at them, then spoke:  
“I understand that ye’all are concerned. Ye’all haven’t known me fer long”  
“We are concerned about Dwight and his feelings”, said Claudette.  
“I understand, and I am not offended. I can assure ye that I’m not playing with him. Please trust me”, said David, casually opening his broad arms.

Just then, Ace and Meg entered through the door.  
“Guess what guys, we got pizza today!”, Ace remarked, dancing a jig.  
“Love your new sleeveless outfit, Man! Ya look hot!”, Nea commented with a smirk.  
“Right back at ya'... Nea, Laurie, Jake, guys, let’s go to the Shack and bring ‘em here?”, Ace continued. Looking at David, he grinned and said, “Man, y’need to go to that house over there. Someone is waiting for you!” Then he gave a friendly pat on David’s back.  
David smiled and extended his arm towards Ace for a hand-shake. “Thanks, Man”, he said.  
Ace responded in an equally friendly way. They half-hugged. Everyone looked at each other, smiling.

“David, you should be lucky to have a boyfriend like Dwight!”, remarked Meg.  
David smiled, unable to respond to that at that time.  
“What? You guys are boyfriends already?”, Jack boomed, alarmed.  
The rest of them started laughing.  
“Meg, did ‘e say that we’re boyfriends?”, David asked.  
“No. He didn’t have to. Whatever”, Meg replied.  
“Go on, David! He’s waiting for you!”, Feng said, excitedly.


	8. 8. Rosy Cheeks and Pockets full of Dreams, Let's Pack A Bag and Never Come Back

David reached the front doorstep of the Lampkin Lane house that Meg and Ace had directed him towards. The door was half-shut, and David heard the faint sound of a guitar being strummed.  
He slowly and curiously opened the door. Grinning excitedly, he saw a row of candles arranged on the floor, and they led upstairs through the staircase. The candle-light was brilliant and soft, at the same time.  
David took-off his black jacket and laid it on one of the nearby sofas. He rolled-up the sleeves of his charming black dress-shirt to reveal his sizeable fighter's forearms. He then slowly took the stairs - his heart pounding harder and harder.  
The sound of the guitar became louder. The tune became familiar to David.  
David entered the room upstairs to find the one his eyes had been achingly looking for, since breakfast that day. His throat became dry. His body felt a mild jolt, as if that of electricity.

Dwight was sitting on the floor - bare feet, wearing a white t-shirt and jeans - He had tied a red bandana on his forehead - looking every bit of a musical artist. He held Nia's broken guitar on his hands, and played in it the tune David recognized very well, by that time.  
David saw that in front of Dwight, candles were arranged in such a manner that they formed a 'D' shape. 'D' - for David.  
David's eyes became moist. He bit his right thumb.  
The only thing David wanted then, was to scoop Dwight up and kiss him like there was no tomorrow, not even stopping to breathe. He needed to feel Dwight, at that moment - every fibre of him.

Dwight began singing the familiar song:

"When oblivion is calling out your name,  
You always take it further than I ever can.

When you play it hard, and I try to follow you there.  
It's not about control but I turn back when I see where you go.

Are you going to age with grace?  
Are you going to leave a path to trace?..."

David crouched down and looked intently at Dwight, his eyes still moist.  
Dwight kept the guitar aside and smiled at the overpowering beast of a man, looming over him.  
The beast stood up, locked the door, sat down on the floor, opened his arms wide, and gestured Dwight to come to him.

"Hey there, Tiger", Dwight greeted David, smiling. “I can only play a couple of chords.”  
"Ye... C'mere... Now!", David mock-commanded.  
Dwight smiled, crawled towards David, then sat down in front of him.  
David took Dwight's nimble hands in his own warm ones and gazed at his eyes.  
"I want to kiss ye", David growled.  
"We'll come to that in a bit", said Dwight gently, biting his lips. "D-did you like all this?... I m-m-mean, we have limited resources here, so I could not arrange something fancy..."  
"F--k fancy, I just want ye now! Ye're enough to make me happy. Now let me kiss ye", responded David.  
"I don't know if I'd be good at it", Dwight muttered, blushing.  
"Ow, don't be such a 'Walk To Remember'! I don't know if I'm good at it, m'self! So it doesn't matter", David replied.  
"You're just mocking me."  
"Stop talking and don't move. I'll lead the way. Nice and slow, Luv... Ye can kiss me back, when ye feel it is the right time", David whispered in a sensual manner with his deep voice, and then slowly proceeded to pull Dwight on his lap, like the last time they were intimate.  
Dwight once-again, wrapped his legs around David's waist.  
"Mmm... Yer shirt smells so fresh", whispered David, kissing Dwight's neck, then his jaw, his cheek...

David's lips soon found the lips that they were yearning for, since the last day. Perhaps, even earlier. Dwight's lips froze for a moment, then blended with the rhythm without any glitch, at all.  
What do they call it now? Good 'skill-check'?  
David and Dwight kept on kissing each other - just the way David had wanted - without any break for breathing. Slowly, then aggressively, then slowly, again.  
Time and space seemed to have had disappeared. They could not see anything with their eyes closed, nor was it necessary to see anything. It was just necessary to feel things. The two pairs of lips felt so natural with each other, so did the tongues. It felt as if two famous dance partners were meeting after ages.

They broke off momentarily, to breathe - hot and heavy - faces red - almost like getting choked to death.  
Dwight laid down on the floor.  
"David King... Come, kiss me now... Kiss me!", he said, with a serious, urgent and confident tone.  
David smiled and said, "That's all I want te do right now."  
He slowly crawled on top of Dwight.  
"I hope I'm not hurting you... My body...", David sounded concerned.  
Dwight smiled and said, "I am stronger than I look."  
David smiled and kissed Dwight's forehead, "Ye are the cutest thing."  
He then proceeded to kiss Dwight, slowly. Another gradual hot and heavy make-out session was on its way.

After the both of them had reasonably calmed down and were laying side by side, Dwight naughtily licked and sucked David's right ear, and said, "You're hungry, right Tiger? I mean for actual food?"  
David slightly moaned, then turned around, caressed Dwight's right jaw, and replied, "I heard they had pizza or somethin'. If ye want te, I'll go with ye."  
Dwight smiled and said, "I have two boxes downstairs already, for the both of us. I'll bring them. Wait a sec."  
"No, let us go downstairs. Do ye need me te carry ye?"  
"Ha ha, very funny", Dwight remarked, rolling his eyes, as the both of them headed downstairs.

The duo ate pizza to their heart's content, then cuddled and laid together on a big, sprawling sofa. David was spooning Dwight, with his warm breath at the back of Dwight's neck and ears. He was sometimes nuzzling against Dwight's hair and kissing his ears.

"I can't believe that this day would come, y'know", Dwight spoke.  
"Mmhm", grunted David.  
"You and I - together at last. I could die a happy man now."  
"Mmmm...", David made a sound, signalling his immense comfort in the present situation.  
"I thought you were straight... The most annoying straight man! Some sort of a crime-Mafia-boss, or something… I thought you would never be into me."  
"I don't care about dating lasses and lads... I've never really defined my sexuality. Nor cared… All I care now is to be with ye... And don't ever say shite like that... Not into you, and you're not good enough - and rubbish like those.", commented David, with a slight tone of irritation.  
"I'm the same way as you are. Doesn't matter if it's a guy or girl, to me... Presently, it's just... I still can't believe someone as gorgeous as you would like to be with an ugly frog like me!", said Dwight, with a quiet laugh.  
"Th'nk ye for the compliment, but have ye ever looked at ye'rself?", David playfully protested. "Ye should ask me what I think of ye… Oh, and ye sang that song so well! I love it. Ye’ve such a voice!"

Dwight became a bit absent-minded. He said, "Why did you punch that wall in the Shack, the other night? I was shit-scared."  
"Because ye said some things that angered me", replied David. "Ye said that ye hated the fact that ye like me, and want those feelings te go away, or somethin'... Ye also implied those rubbish, which ye were talking about, just now!"  
"I am an idiot. I didn’t think that a big man such as yourself, would think of these things… I'm sorry. Can you forgive me?", Dwight said in a glum tone.  
“Don’t be ridiculous… Hey, Babe… I didn’t get the opportunity to tell ye… Te thank ye, fer doing this fer me. This grand gesture… Nobody has ever done this for me! I could ‘ave cried. I felt like such a girl!”, David said, sounding a mix of emotional and funny.  
“Well, I’m a Romantic fool, for all you know, but I’d never let you cry”, Dwight guffawed.  
“Turn yer head ‘round, Little Cherub. I w’n’te kiss ye”, David demanded and then proceeded to kiss Dwight gently, again and again.

“I don’t know if you’ve done this, or you’re used to this, Tiger. But I might have to apologize for taking things very slow with you, if you’re not comfortable with this”, Dwight said.  
“Rubbish! I’ave already told ye, I like this. I feel more. I am becoming much happier with this slow thing. I look forward to see your cute face, every day”, David retorted.  
“What are we now? I mean it’s too early to be like official and all… What do we say to the others?”  
“Ye’know, Meg over there called you my boyfriend! In that other house where I was”, said David, with a smile.  
“What did you say to that?”  
“Nothing… I thought I’d ask ye first. What you want us to be?”  
“I don’t pressurize anyone, so I don’t want to pressurize you. We both agree that going slow is good. Still, I think we need to say something to the others… Maybe we could say we’re dating, or together, etc.”, suggested Dwight.  
“I like ‘together’, Cherub!”, David chuckled, playfully sucking Dwight’s ear.  
“Me too, Honey Bear!”, replied Dwight.  
David laughed out loud and said, “We’re calling each other by a million different names, do ye realize that?”  
“Yeah, and I don’t care”, Dwight grinned. “Hey, by the way, you watched ‘A Walk To Remember’? I could never imagine!”  
“Just like ye could never imagine me with another guy – or being emotional? Anger is also an emotion, Dwight?”  
“Don’t worry, I was just kidding… I’m not gonna assume things about people, about you.”  
David embraced Dwight from behind even tighter. Dwight laughed out, confessing that he had noticed and felt David’s ‘excitement’ of another kind, for quite some time. David said he had noticed Dwight’s too. They both then agreed to act more mature and continue to take things slow, ignoring ‘those’ urges, for the time being.

“I feel I had just faced my in-laws back in that other house!”, informed David, laughing.  
“What?”  
“I received non-serious and playful threats from the others – Don’t tell them all this – That if I ever played with your emotions and feelings, they’re going te kick my a---! They love ye so much”, David said, laughing.  
“They’ll love you too, once they see that deep inside you’re a trustworthy and a good man – no matter what circumstances you were in, in your past life.”  
“Ye think of me this way?”, David’s tone was full of surprise.  
“Of course I do. Who else will, if I don’t?”  
“Oh Babe… Ye’re so kind and sweet! Ye’re this divine porcelain-Angel-kinda creature, that’s impacting me in a huge way. Yer face is like this Renaissance-marble-sculpture. I like yer nose”, David remarked, kissing Dwight’s face. “I think I’ll permanently transform into me good side, with ye around!”  
“You’re too kind”, smiled Dwight. “If we are like this, I might soon say those three words to you… Then again – don’t wanna pressurize you.”  
“I sure want te hear them soon… Say them soon to you, as well.”

Dwight turned around. To him David felt even warmer and more snuggly.  
He wished there were a thick blanket to cover the both of them up, cozy them up more.  
Dwight trailed his nimble fingers over David’s irregular-shaped nose. David mischievously stuck his tongue out for a moment.  
“What’re you thinking, Bear?”, Dwight cooed.  
“I think I’d like that – ye callin’ me ‘Bear’”, David replied animatedly. “You’re my little porcelain Cherub.”  
He kissed Dwight’s eyes and forehead. Dwight reciprocated by pecking his nose and caressing his strong jaw.  
David took a deep breath and spoke, “Something unexpected happened today, Dwight… That Visconti was in his most decent self, tonight at the other house, and behaved with me as if we were friends. Rather surprising!”  
“Being with someone does that to you. I guess… I am happy for him and Laurie. He’s too happy now, to fight with anyone”, explained Dwight. “He wasn’t happy before. He had issues – with gambling, his divorce and all. Poor guy!”  
David was nodding, eyes shut.  
“Getting sleepy, Bear?”, whispered Dwight, brushing aside David’s hair.  
“Ne, ‘am listenin’”, Dwight’s Bear whispered back, eyes still shut.  
“We all had difficulties in our past lives, in the real world… Say, can I ask you something? I just remembered”, said Dwight.  
“Sure, Luv.”  
“When we met on that evening by the other fire that you had made…”  
“Hmm?”, David indicated that he was still listening, even with his eyes closed.  
“I saw a big felling axe, and pieces of cut wood… Were you making something?”  
“Oh, I will make that. Eventually. A treehouse. All planned up with Bill and all.”  
“Wow, that’s amazing!”  
“Mmmm… ‘m fellin’ asleep”, David mumbled.  
Dwight gently kissed David’s eyes, nose and cheek. “Good night, my Bear”, he whispered.

They laced their fingers together, then dozed-off. Dwight wanted to stay like that with David for a long, long time.


	9. 9. A Teardrop On your Shoulder, Says This is the Time of Times

In terms of our real world, we might be saying now, that a year had passed in the Entity’s world. It was mid-2017 then, when David had arrived. It was now towards the end of 2018. 

To people like David, it was of no use frantically trying to get out of the Groundhog Day situation: Matches against killers, every day, then Respite at the Campfire sub-Realm. It was the repetition of almost the same sequence of events. Well, maybe not during Respite. 

Dwight, Meg, Claudette and Bill had already told the others that it was of no use trying to stop, or get out of the cycle. There were rumours that one or two people had managed to successfully get out… But they were, after all, rumours.

The only two things that brought David his much-needed happiness and warmth, were Dwight and his “foster” family. The family had increased. It now had new members (unfortunate and wretched souls, rather! – as Ace and Dwight would say, in jest) like Quentin Smith, David Tapp, Kate Denson and Adam Francis – much to Dwight’s sadness. He always wished that nobody else should suffer the way he and his best friends were.

There was the rise of new killers, too. There were now The Cannibal, The Nightmare, The Pig, The Clown and The Spirit. Each more terrifying that the other. Dwight particularly found The Clown funny, because with his potbelly and comparatively low energy, the latter often would not chase survivors for long, and would fall asleep at random corners. Dwight would think of that lazy Hag that they had encountered once, and laugh out loud during the matches with The Clown.

It did not take much longer for Dwight and David, as well as Laurie and Ace, to formally come out as couples. None of the two couples were into public displays of affection. However, when your group is small and it becomes familial, everybody pushes couples to confess. Both the couples had started with the “Yes, we are together. Let’s see what happens” phase, and within three months they had giggled and had announced that they were indeed, official.  
David and Ace – both of them had blushed awkwardly like never before, when their respective significant others were announcing it to the group – holding their hands. Dwight and Laurie both had sounded serious. However, they had failed to maintain the serious tone of the audience, as all had burst out laughing. Two months prior to that, Feng and Jake had gleefully announced that they were officially a couple. No one was surprised, though. Everyone was happy.

It was on that Respite night, when Dwight and David had officially become a couple, that they had first made love to each other. Under the stars, in their special grove. It was blissful and rosy. David had submitted himself to Dwight and had lovingly asked him to take charge. David had also told him that he believed that Dwight was the expert at being slow and romantic.  
In the subsequent heated Respite nights, when they made even sweeter love to each other with each passing night, Dwight had many a times brushed the tears from David’s eyes. David would constantly say that he could not even think of going rough on Dwight, for the fear that Dwight would get hurt. Dwight had smiled and had said that he would willingly ask David to ‘make it rough’, soon. David assured him that there is no such pressure to do that. Ever.

David had also admitted to Dwight with each passing day, that he felt more “accepted” in the group, in reply to which Dwight had planted a sweet kiss on his cheek and forehead.

XXX

It might have been a day in December in the real world, in 2018.  
Dwight woke up at Respite, and saw Claudette and Jake standing, looking over.  
“You okay, Dwitters?”, enquired Claudette.  
“Yeah… That b---h Amanda mori-ed me. It was like my whole body exploded”, muttered Dwight. “What is this place, again?”  
“It’s the Red Forest”, answered Jake.  
“You’re all healed up! Let’s get you cleaned”, smiled Claudette.

“Hey y’all!”, shouted Meg, running towards them. “Thank God, I saw somebody! I woke up on the other side of this forest. So relieved that it’s Respite.”  
“This is the worst map to spend the night in. Grasses all wet, the pitter-patter irritating rain!”, groaned Dwight.  
“Don’t forget Hag’s Swamp! Anyway, we have Mother’s Dwelling to ourselves and the Shack… Without Anna, of course”, smiled Claudette, dancing a little jig.  
“Look at Claudie now, y’all!”, Dwight remarked with a teasing tone. “All happy-pills and shit! Coupling looks good on you!”  
“Shut up and go to the restroom!”, Claudette shot back, sounding playfully annoyed. “Megs, you look so great!”  
“Later, later! I’m so glad that we ‘the oldest’ are here together after such a long time!”, said Dwight. “Let’s go explorin’ like the old days?”, Dwight suggested, cheerfully.  
“Hell yeah!”, said Jake, raising his hands, energetically. “But what would our girlfriends and boyfriends think?”  
“What do ya mean?”, asked Meg.  
“They’ll not find us easily”, said Jake.  
“Don’t worry so much. We will find each other! I’m not so much worried about David and all, tonight”, said Dwight.  
“We’ll come back to the Shack during dinner, anyway”, said Meg. “All will be there.”  
Claudette nodded.

They headed towards the part of the wilderness, where flowed a cute, little stream. The rain had momentarily stopped at that time.

“Adam is good to you, right Claudie?”, Meg asked Claudette, putting her arms around the latter. Dwight and Jake sat on the big rock on the other side of the stream, throwing pebbles into it, occasionally.  
Claudette smiled bashfully. “I guess so”, she replied.  
“So your vision came true… Again! He’s the one you saw”, said Jake.  
Everyone else nodded.  
“How far we have come, the four of us! How far to go?”, Dwight said, sighing, absent-mindedly.  
“I’m happy for Dwight and David, and Feng and Jake… We are all growing up. We have more responsibilities”, Claudette replied with a smile.  
“We haven’t aged a day, since we came here. Probably never will”, said Meg.  
“Any progress with Quentin or Kate, Meggie?”, said Jake, smiling. “You’re the only single here in our group!”  
“Don’t pressurize her, Man!”, said Dwight, in a mock-annoyed tone.  
“I don’t know, they’re so similar!”, answered Meg in a despairing tone.  
“Both being hot to you?”, joked Jake with a wink.  
Meg laughed and said, “They’re both closed-up. Quentin had a girlfriend. Then Kate might not be into girls now – even though Tapp had said that he knew Kate’s family, many years ago, and that she had a girlfriend at that point of time.”  
“You talked to Tapp about Kate?”, Dwight asked, surprised.  
“Yeah, I mean Kate and Tapp talk to each other like they’re back to the old days, all the time! They were neighbours, a long time ago”, replied Meg.  
“Then again, what is ‘time’ in this Realm!”, said Claudette, sadly.  
“We. Are. Immortal!”, growled Jake jokingly, standing up and posing like King Kong!  
All of them laughed out loud.

“It’s really nice, you guys. Us four, chilling here like this”, Dwight said, gleefully.  
“Yea, just like old times”, added Claudette.  
“How is it like, you two f-----g?”, Jake asked Dwight in a tone of jest, wrapping his arm around the latter.  
“I could ask you the same thing… Even though I won’t. Anyway, all I can say is that, a gentleman never tells!”, responded Dwight, with equal jest.  
“David does have the body to pleasure anyone!”, Meg laughed, looking at Dwight.  
“Shut up, Meg and don’t give me creepy vibes. You only had said that he is like a brother to you. Like I am”, said Dwight, mock-scolding her. “Claudie, don’t you think I’m hot as well?”  
“Of course, you are”, Jake laughed and retorted, before Claudette could say anything. “That’s why Feng had a crush on you, remember!”  
Dwight and Claudette looked at each other, faces aghast.  
“Anyway, it doesn’t matter now”, said Dwight.  
“Yes, she found you and the both of you are happy”, added Claudette, looking at Jake.  
“I don’t hold it against my bro’ here”, said Jake, hugging a now-awkward Dwight.  
“D’you think the others are back?”, Meg asked Dwight.  
“One way to find out. Let’s walk back to either the Shack or Mother’s Dwelling”, suggested Dwight.  
“Shack”, said Jake.

The original “foster” family: Dwight, Claudette, Jake and Meg, then slowly headed towards the Shack of the Red Forest Realm, in the hopes of finding the others.

Jake and Meg soon sprinted ahead, when they were able to see the Dwelling lights. Claudette also tailed them.  
Dwight slowed down a bit, to tie the laces of his red Nike’s, when suddenly, he heard a groaning.  
Respite, so far, had never had a killer among them. So Dwight was ninety-nine percent sure that it wasn’t the groan of one. It was coming from behind him.  
With a mix of nervousness and caution, Dwight started to go towards the groaning sound. It appeared to be that of a man. The rest of Dwight’s friends had now gone too far to hear his calls.  
Dwight could then see a hand from a small and dry ditch, ahead. The groan was, indeed, that of a human being. Dwight went near him and then could see him more prominently. It wasn’t a known face.  
The man had long hair and was bearded. He seemed to be tall and burly, most probably in his late-thirties. He had a smell of clay and malt. He wore a worn-out leather jacket, biker-jeans and brown oxford shoes that were completely smeared with the mud.  
A shudder came over Dwight – another soul brought-in by the Entity, to suffer forever in that world.

“Can you stand up?”, Dwight cried out to the new man. “Here’s my hand.”  
The new man helped himself up, grabbing Dwight’s had. Then he kneeled down and slowly attempted to put himself together. Dwight stood there, wondering how he could help.

“Where am I?”, the man asked Dwight, breathing heavily.  
“I’ll tell you soon, but are you okay? Are you hurt?”, asked Dwight. He noticed the man’s Canadian way of speaking English.  
“I’m… I was in pain but it’s all gone! I can see better, as well. Strange… What’s going on?”, the man said anxiously, looking here and there.  
“Please calm down. I’m here to help. I’m Dwight. What’s your name?”  
“Where the f—k am I?”, shouted the man, with much pain in his voice.  
“You’re a long way from home. You… Please calm down. In order to make you understand everything, you need to calm down and listen to us.”  
“Have I been kidnapped?”  
“I have not kidnapped you. I am on the same boat as you are. You have to come and meet us – others in the same boat as you are”, Dwight reassured the man. “Please trust me. What is your name?”  
“Jeff”, the man said. “You’re American, aren’t you?”  
“Hmm… There are people from other places of the world here too. You’ll meet them. Come. You can trust me… Jeff”, said Dwight, smiling with empathy glowing on his face.


	10. 10. Open your Eyes to The Light

At Mother’s Dwelling, dinner was being served. The family had brought all the food from the Shack, and had laid out the buffet on the large table, downstairs.  
“Feels great for a change… Somewhere new. We haven’t yet spent Respite at this place”, commented Bill.  
“Gosh, it’s raining now”, remarked Adam.

“Hey guys!”, said Jake, as he walked in with Meg and Claudette. “I see food is already on the table!”  
“Get changed, ya kids! What were y’all doing? Spawned just now?”, Bill grunted.  
“Where were you guys?”, said Feng.  
“Oh, Dwight, Jake, Claudie and I went down to the stream in the wilderness. We spawned here ages ago. Before you guys appeared”, Meg answered.  
“We all spawned around this house. Didn’t see any of ya?”, said Ace.  
“We were a little worried. Even though we know you’d come back from the dead and end up here at Respite, most certainly”, said Laurie, smiling.  
“Well, we’re here!”, said Claudette with a smile as she ran towards Laurie and hugged her.  
Adam came over and smiled at Claudette, gently wrapping his arms around her waist.  
Jake went over to Feng, pecking her on her head.

“Where’s Dwighty?”, Nea remarked, coming downstairs. She had been seeing everything from upstairs, till now.  
“He’s here with us… Where?”, Jake sounded surprised as he spoke, looking around.  
Everyone’s eyes searched for Dwight, but in vain.  
“What the hell! Where’s he?”, said Ace, as he quickly went outside. David Tapp followed him. So did Jake.  
They had not gone far, when they saw two figures coming over. They could definitely make Dwight out. Who was the other person?

Soaked all over – first in blood, then in the rain, Dwight and Jeff entered the house with Ace, Tapp and Jake.  
Everyone went silent, with curious eyes on the new man.  
“Dwighty, are you okay?”, Claudette shouted as she ran towards him. “Guys, sit down.”  
She then mouthed a “Hi” to a visibly distraught Jeff.  
Dwight, by then, had become an expert of sensing David’s presence near him. Strangely, he just seemed to sense that David was not there at that moment.  
When Bill, Claudette and Ace were helping Dwight and Jeff to clean up and lead them to the restrooms, Dwight sensed David coming downstairs with a few others.  
Seeing him, David rushed towards Dwight during the little commotion, as Dwight had expected. He gestured towards David with his hands and eyes that he was alright, and that he would catch up later. David nodded.  
“Do you want to go your locker?”, Adam asked the still traumatized Jeff.  
“Ya kids leave him alone with me, a bit. He needs to be explained everything… You, New Guy, sit down over here. Megs, Jakey, come over… David, take Dwighty to freshen him up. Everybody, clear the space!”, Bill boomed in an authoritative tone.  
Nobody dared to talk back. It was a sensitive situation for the new guy. Everyone else understood the tensed atmosphere, since all of them had faced it, at one point of time.  
“His name is Jeff”, announced Dwight, as he proceeded towards the Shack, followed by David and Nea.

“D’ye need my support, Cherub?”, David asked Dwight with an anxious tone, as they walked – with Dwight’s hand in his.  
“No, it’s fine, David. I can walk by myself. Thanks. Hi, Nea!”, said Dwight, pretending to be cheerful.  
“So, you found the new guy?”, asked Nea.  
“Yeah I did, in a dry ditch over there. Yet another one bites the dust, like us.”  
David and Nea then helped Dwight take out a fresh change of clothes and dry himself up. Dwight then went to the restroom.

Dinner was quieter, as Jeff was the one who was narrating his past to the others, often breaking down with the trauma and his own social anxiety. Bill, Meg, Ace and David tried their best to make him comfortable, but they failed to do much. It was just the first day. Dwight hoped that among them, Jeff would soon feel more comfortable. Jeff seemed to be basically a nice and a soft guy, despite appearing like a bearded Sasquatch!  
After dinner, when Dwight went to wash his hands, Nea approached him discreetly and said, “I need to talk to you, Dweet.”  
“Yeah, what’s up?”  
Nea appeared to be hesitant, biting her lips and looking at the ground. “Not here… Maybe later.”  
“Okay let’s go over there. We could have some privacy”, Dwight said, gesturing Nea to follow him towards a line of trees.  
The rain had stopped by then, thankfully.  
“You had a good time with Megs and all?”, Nea asked him.  
“Oh it was great! I wish you had spawned with us at that time… Nea, what is it? I’m concerned!”, Dwight replied.  
Nea took a deep breath. “Dweety, I think it would be a good idea if you sleep beside all of us in the Shack, tonight.”  
“Why do you say so?”  
Both of them saw David and Jake waving at them. They waved back, gesturing that they will join the others, soon.

“Don’t take this in a twisted way, but I think it’s best that you don’t sleep with David, tonight. I have… Something to tell you”, Nea said, with a cracked voice.  
“Nea, what is it?”, said Dwight, visibly shaken.  
Nea looked at the ground. Hesitance had taken over her whole body.  
“Tell me what happened. G’dammit!”  
Nea took another deep breath.

Laurie, Feng and Tapp were coming over.  
Dwight turned to them and said with an earnest voice, “Guys, I’m really sorry to say this, but I have some private conversation with Nea. Could all of you please excuse us for a moment?”

After the three of them went away, understanding the situation, Dwight turned towards Nea.  
“So?”, he said with the consistent anxiety in his voice.  
“H-How should I say this… This has probably started about a couple of Respites before”, said Nea.  
“Okay? What has started?”  
“You know that girl, Kate Denson?”  
“Yeah, what about her?”  
“Dwighty, y-you’re one of my best friends, right?”  
“Yeah!”, said Dwight. “And?”  
“Promise you won’t get mad at me? You trust me, right?”  
Dwight gave Nea a gentle hug and said, “Tell me Nea, what do you know? I-I’m dying here, I think!”  
“So, a couple of Respites before, I went to the restroom in the middle of our sleeping time. We were all sleeping in the Shack?”  
“Yeah, we did. Two Respites ago. All of us were exhausted that night… I remember”, said Dwight.  
“So when I was coming back from the restroom, I saw that that Kate girl was sitting up and making some hand-movements in the dark at someone across the floor, and laughing very quietly with them”, said Nea, almost whispering.  
“Hmm. And?”  
Nea took another deep breath and said, “That someone was David… I’m sorry!”  
Dwight’s forehead furrowed. “Are you sure it was Kate?”  
“Absolutely”, answered Nea. “There’s more.”  
“What?”, remarked Dwight, eyebrows shooting up.  
“Mhm… On yesterday’s Respite, you spawned the last, right?”  
“I mean, I did spawn on time, but I guess the rest of you did not have the last match. I had it, and it was a long one”, said Dwight.  
“We were all sitting at the fire, chatting and shit… However, some of us saw your David and Kate sitting a little apart, engaged in some deep conversation or somethin’. It didn’t seem like… y’know, like a conversation between casual friends… Like something you and I would be having”, Nea said, with a tone of annoyance.  
Dwight breathed heavily, a few times and cleared his throat.

“Umm… Y’know David and I trust each other. Are you sure you’re not reading too much into this interaction that you’re talking about?”, Dwight spoke.  
“No. You could ask Claudie. She noticed, too… The thing is, I am always the brutally honest one, and that’s why everyone hates me”, Nea said, continuing her annoyance.  
“C’mon, you’re one of my best friends, and I love ya’ for this!”, assured Dwight.  
“You tell me, Dweets, how many people have this Kate b---h actually spoken to? She’s been here for around five or six months, if we go according to our real-world calendar? Everyone says, she’s the quiet one! Well, she ain’t quiet with your man, she ain’t!”, hissed Nea.  
“I really don’t know what to think or say, Nea. I feel upset, definitely. David has not told anything to me, about this. W-We also haven’t been catching up well with each other, since the past week”, said Dwight, sighing. “I am so exhausted.”  
“This evening was the final nail in the coffin. I could not bear it. I had to tell you! ‘Cause others won’t”, Nea grunted.  
Dwight frowned and put his hands on his head. “What now, Oh!”

“When you guys were away at the stream, David and that b---h were walking along the trees over there. Then after some time, I saw them on the grassy broken terrace on the first floor of the Dwelling, where we have the generators, usually. They were sitting together, without a care in the world – unaware that some eyes might be on them. David didn’t even ask any of us, about you, when he spawned here!”  
Dwight stared at Nea, blankly, breathing deeply.  
“So many things happened downstairs, tonight, with you missing and the new guy coming in… Where was David? Did you see him when you came in? All the others were there. He was up there with that b---h, and someone had to go and call them downstairs!”, Nia hissed, with anger. Her face red.  
Dwight was sure of this, because this indeed, had happened. He had seen it. David had come down, much later. He rubbed his forehead, sweating, with a red face.  
“Nea, are you sure that I have to think what you’re implying?”, he muttered with a feeble and broken voice.  
“Well, where is he? D’you see him now?”, Nea remarked.  
Dwight took a deep breath and said, “Let me think. This is so overwhelming. Let us go to the Shack and see what’s going on.”  
“No one will sleep at the Shack tonight… The Dwelling has plenty of space!”, reminded Nea.  
“Okay, let’s go there”, said Dwight. Then he started walking.

Nea and Dwight entered the Dwelling and saw the others bringing their blankets and sleeping bags from the Shack. They intended to sleep inside the Dwelling, just as Nea had predicted. The sky crackled and heavy rainfall began. 

Dwight noticed, discreetly, that David was sitting a little far away, with Jake, Feng and a couple of other people.  
“She is upstairs with her guitar. Look. But don’t make it obvious”, Nea whispered.  
“Shhh”, Dwight whispered back.  
“I bet she is glancing at your man, that little b---h!”, whispered Nea again.  
“Don’t be hasty, gimme some time”, replied Dwight.  
“Could anyone provide Jeff with a spare blanky? Mine’s too small”, hollered Meg.  
“Yes, he can have mine!”, Nea boomed back. “I’ll just put on my hoodie or something.”  
“Nea, did you see his swanky locker? It’s so shiny and smells so good!”, said Jake, animatedly.  
“It is bound to be, Jake. It just appeared”, Feng remarked.  
Feng and Jake then proceeded to go upstairs to find a private spot. Dwight and Nea were expecting to see the other couples to follow the same thing. However, they all ended up on the ground floor. The couples were, of course, preparing to lie beside one another.

“Kate? Coming down?”, Laurie called out to Kate.  
Kate smiled at her and nodded. She kept her guitar in a corner and started climbing down.  
Despite having a guitar, she had never communicated much with Nea, who also had a guitar. She had never attempted to jam with the singers in the group, led by Dwight and Ace. She would often sit apart from all of them, strumming her own guitar. Isolated.

David beamed a smile at Dwight, and was coming over.  
Dwight and Nea exchanged looks, not knowing what to do.  
“Hey Cherub!”, David greeted Dwight, kissing his left cheek. “Where are we sleeping?”  
“Umm… Is it okay if we sleep here with them?”, Dwight replied, trying to sound his regular self.  
“Whatever ye wish, Babe”, David said with a smile. “Aw’right Nea?”  
Nea faked a smile.  
“Something te worry about? What were ye two talkin’ of?”, asked David.  
“Just some Nea stuff, y’know. She doesn’t want to share with everyone”, said Dwight. “Hey, David, could you make a spot for the both of us, somewhere?”  
“Of course, Babe!”, David replied, kissing the top of Dwight’s head, then headed towards the hall where the beds were being made.  
Dwight could not think of doing anything, at that point. He walked to his spot on the floor and laid down. David held him but he pretended to be exhausted and closed his eyes. He did not speak much to David.

The next day’s alarm rang and all of them groaned and woke up, irritated. Dwight quickly got up and sprinted outside towards his locker, ignoring David pulling his clothes. He knew that David would come to him sometime later to ask about his recent behaviour, but what could he do then?  
Nea was one of his best friends and she would not make up stories. All he knew he needed to do was to quietly have breakfast and prepare himself for the matches. Everything else could be dealt with, at Respite.  
Dwight came out of the restroom and saw David standing outside.

“Hey, My luv’?”  
“Hey.”  
“Ev’rything aw’rite?”, David asked, sounding puzzled.  
“Yeah I think so! What do you think?... Hey, seen Jeff? He okay?”  
“Umm… It’s just that ye’ve been acting a bit strange.”  
“Oh, really? Guess, we don’t have time to talk. Gotta have breakfast. Then the trials”, remarked Dwight, as he walked straight ahead to the Shack.  
David stared at Dwight, blankly and mute, as the latter walked away without looking at him. Something was definitely not right between them.

Dwight was chatting with Bill and Jeff (who had got the sense of what was going on, and had seemingly become more accepting of that situation), when Claudette came running towards him.  
“Dwight, have you seen David have breakfast?”, she asked him, pulling him aside.  
“He isn’t here?”, Dwight asked, surprised.  
“You don’t care if your boyfriend’s here or not? You don’t notice?”  
“Sorry Claudie, I cannot deal with this right now. All I want before the trials is just to have some Goddamn breakfast, and some time apart from the David issue!”, Dwight hissed, angrily.  
“So you know it?”, asked Claudette.  
Dwight closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He spoke, “I will deal with all this when I come back at Respite. I’ll talk to you, as well. But I cannot start talking about this issue, when we have the trials right now!”  
“Fair enough”, said Claudette. “For your information, he hasn’t eaten, yet.”  
Dwight rubbed his forehead and put his plate of food down. He walked upstairs, without saying anything.  
Once out of the Shack, he saw Kate and David at a distance. David was sitting on a rock, talking to Kate, while she smiled standing beside it. Fortunately, for Dwight, they could not see him.  
Teary-eyed, Dwight turned away and walked towards the opposite direction. He then came face to face with an empathetic Nea. She had seen it, as well.  
Dwight sprinted past her towards the wilderness, not saying anything. He knew that he would soon get transported to the first match-setting. A temporary relief from all this, nonetheless.


	11. 11. And I have Paid and I have Bargained, And Put Myself in the Line Of Fire

Dwight wasn’t mentally prepared to face the Campfire at that particular Respite.   
In his last trial of that day he sat on the ground near the Exit, with a particular Wraith killer beside him. The Wraith had dropped his killing weapon somewhere inside.  
“Relationship problems?”, the Wraith asked.  
“Relationships suck! Thanks for not killing me and sending me to Respite so early.”  
“I know, right? Take your time. It’s good to just sit in silence, sometimes.”  
“You’re a rare, kind one, Philip!”, said Dwight with a smile.  
“And I could not hurt that face of yours, Dearie! You put up a brave fight and became the last survivor”, replied the Wraith, smiling back.  
Dwight took the Wraith’s ashen hand and said, “I genuinely am sorry to learn what happened to you, Philip!... When you were… Human”  
The Wraith looked sad and said, “What is done is done. Now y’all have to play the role of the survivors, and we, the killers. It’s all that motherf----r Entity’s grand design! That sadistic b-----d!”  
“I know, right!”, murmured Dwight, leaning his head on the Wraith’s dark cloak. “We have a new guy now… Jeff. Thanks to that b-----d!”  
“Yeah I know, and we have four pesky kids. Killers”, the Wraith informed.  
“Oh! Haven’t seen them!”, said Dwight.  
“You’ll see them soon.”  
“I sincerely hope to meet you again – ‘you’ Philip!”, said Dwight, with gratefulness in his voice.  
“Aww, you’re too kind. But I won’t be able to kill you, then”, the Wraith replied.

XXX

Dwight had to come back to Respite, sooner or later. He did not know what to do. Perhaps, meeting and talking to Nea and Claudette would be a better option. He carefully looked into the Shack to see if David were there. Jake and Ace were arguing for some reason, while Meg and Quentin watched silently. Perhaps, getting in and blending-in would be a good option, Dwight thought. He did not want to see David at that moment.  
“Say, Quentin, have you seen Claudette or Nea?”  
“Claudette was here like a second ago. Try the fire. Actually, I wanna accompany you too. Tired of these clowns”, said Meg.  
Jake and Ace both went out through two different doorways.  
“What was all this about?”, Dwight asked Meg and Quentin.  
“Some fact about something… Stock market or something. Both had different information. Before you know it, they’re fighting!”, Quentin replied. Meg laughed.  
“Stock market is the last thing that they should talk about in the Entity’s world”, said Dwight.

Nea was sitting with her guitar in an open space, away from the Campfire. She saw a large figure coming over. It was the new guy, Jeff.  
“Hi!”, said Jeff, with a smile.  
“Hey”, responded Nea as she started to strum a song on her guitar.  
“Would you terribly mind if I sit here? Or you wish to be alone?”, asked Jeff.  
Nea guffawed and said, “It’s a free country… Realm, rather!”  
“What?”  
“Actually, it’s not. Anyway… Yeah, sit down, sit down”, said Nea.  
Jeff sat down, smiling.  
“So, I wanted to thank you for the blanket, the other day. My stuff hadn’t arrived, and I had a soggy and dirty jacket on”, Jeff spoke, after a couple of moments of silence.  
“My pleasure”, said Nea. “Although, you did put my blanket back on me, before the alarms woke us up.”  
“Yeah I kinda could not sleep. I did say thank you to you that night, but you were asleep, I guess”  
“Yeah, initial days… I know how you feel… D’you know how to play?”, asked Nea.  
“Of course?”  
“It’s battered. Suddenly wanted to play ‘Jailhouse Rock’. Can’t manage”, Nea remarked.  
“I’ll show you”, Jeff said with a smile.

“Nea!”  
Nea and Jeff startled, as they saw Claudette and Dwight calling her name from a distance. They were coming over.  
“Ah, so we finally find you!”, said Claudette, panting.  
“We need to talk”, said Dwight.  
“Erm… Do I need to go?”, asked an awkward Jeff.  
“No it’s fine, Jeff”, replied Claudette. She then looked at Dwight and Nea and whispered, “He kinda knows.”  
Nea and Dwight looked at each other with horror, the same way that they always do, in strange situations.   
“You told him?”, Dwight said to Claudette, surprised.  
“No, I didn’t. But he and Adam apparently had talked about Kate. Adam told me”, replied Claudette.  
“What’s going on?”, asked Nea.  
“Kate tried to get close to Adam and he felt uncomfortable. Naturally! He then expressed his annoyance to Jeff. Jeff also had something to say”, said Claudette.  
Jeff smiled shyly and said, “She did try to flirt with me.”  
“And you?”, said Dwight.  
“Nope. Not interested.”

“She’s a good-looking woman. Blonde and all. You weren’t interested?”, teased Claudette.  
Jeff guffawed and brushing through his long locks, spoke, “I’m not interested in her particularly. Don’t get that likable vibe.”  
“She’s such a w---e! Trying to get on with every man over here! While pretending to be Miss quiet-goody-two-shoes”, hissed Nea.  
“Anyone particular to your liking here, Jeff? Or got somebody back home?”, said Dwight.  
“Nah, I’m forever single”, said Jeff, again with shyness. “If anyone interests me over here, I shall let you know, Dwight… I need to first come to terms with my reality over here.”  
“Well, we are here for you, Jeff”, said Dwight, side-hugging him. “Now could we talk about my issue?”  
“Oh yeah, Nea told you, right?”, Claudette said.  
“How serious is this?”, Dwight asked, looking at Claudette and Nea.  
“Well, looking at the body language of the both of them, it doesn’t look right, Dwight. To be honest”, said Claudette.  
“I wanted to confirm. I wasn’t sure if Nea was being too emotional in her judgement. Now I hear your opinion. Plus Jeff’s experience… I think my heart will break”, said Dwight, sounding very sad.

Jeff put his arms around Dwight. Claudette put hers from the other side, too.  
“I knew that bull wasn’t to be trusted!”, Nea grunted.  
“Shall I tell Bill? Shall I confront David?... I don’t know what to do!”, mumbled Dwight, with moist eyes.  
“If I may… I think you need to speak with him directly, Dwight”, said Jeff.  
“I’ll get mad and it’ll end up in a huge fight, Jeff… I saw him at the campfire when I went to call Claudie. He stared at me like stone, and then started ignoring me completely, talking to the others. I was there for a brief moment, though. I didn’t know what to do”, Dwight mumbled again. “He is mad with me, anyway. I was cold to him, before the trials and he didn’t have breakfast.”  
“You should be mad with that b-----d!... And you’re talking about his feelings? What is he doing to you? Ever think about that?”, Nea growled.  
“I am beyond mad, Nea”, said Dwight. “I don’t blame Kate much. David should have not reciprocated. I think Adam and Jeff did the right thing. I thought David would too, but… Just my luck!”  
“Jeff said the right thing. Go beat up his a--! Don’t be silent”, said Nea with continued irritation in her voice.

“I have an extra cig. You wanna?”, Jeff asked Nea.  
“Yeah. Let’s take a walk… Dwight, go kick his a--! Now”, said Nea, as she got up for her walk.  
“Maybe I’ll have a smoke first, like you two”, said Dwight.

“Love makes you do stupid things!... Can’t believe Dwight isn’t valuing himself and punching that f----r, right now”, Nea said to Jeff, as they walked. “It’s so-o-o frustrating to watch your friend going through a shitty relationship.”  
“You’re a true friend, Nea. Everyone should have a friend like you”, replied Jeff. “You’re hurting and so is Dwight. But he is thinking with his brain… If you know what I mean.”  
“How’re you holding up?”, asked Nea.  
“It still is too much for me. I’m getting by”, Jeff responded. “I think you’re a very strong woman, Nea.”  
Nea smiled and said, “Circumstances, Jeff… I think circumstances have made me the way I am.”  
“I think I’ll have a lot to learn from someone like you. Enduring the Entity’s tricks day-in and day-out”, Jeff said, sounding very earnest.  
Nea turned around and touched Jeff’s hair.  
“I like your hair”, she said with a smirk.  
“It’s nothing extraordinary”, Jeff said, smiling.  
“You are Jesus, aren’t you? Jake and Bill call you Jesus!”, Nea laughed loud. She playfully tugged Jeff’s beard. Jeff smiled.  
“And what will you call me, fellow-Viking?”, Jeff said, smirking this time.  
“I don’t know. You tell me!”, Nea teased.  
“You’re really something, y’kow?”, Jeff guffawed.  
Nea silently finished her cigarette, looking at Jeff.  
“Christ!”, she muttered, “I’m cold.”  
Jeff took off his jacket and helped Nea wear it, with much insistence.  
“Aren’t you gonna be cold?... I like your artsy sweatshirt, though”, asked Nea with wide eyes.  
Jeff smiled and said, “I’m used to the cold in Canada. We’ll return to the Shack for dinner, anyway.”  
“Oh, you’re gonna go there now?”  
“Well, if you don’t want me to, we could be here for some more time”, Jeff retorted, puzzled.  
“Yeah, I’d like that. Few more minutes. Here.”  
“Yeah, sure”, added Jeff, grinning.   
“Thanks.”  
“You’re very welcome.”

“Your belly’s cute”, Nea said to Jeff, casually, without looking at him.  
“What?”  
“That’s right!”, Nea answered.  
“What about the rest of me?”, Jeff grinned.  
“Yeah the rest of you too”, confirmed Nea. This time, while looking at him.  
“I am over the moon!”, said Jeff, breaking into the most delightful laugh.  
Nea laughed, punching Jeff’s small belly, in jest.  
“If I may dare… You’re not so bad yourself, M’lady!”, Jeff said, bowing down.  
“No one has ever done that to me”, Nea said, smiling gleefully.  
“I really don’t know how to speak properly with the ladies… I think I suck!”

Nea looked into Jeff’s eyes for a good couple of minutes, with utmost intensity.  
Jeff breathed heavily.

“Would it be too psychotic of me, if I say I wanna kiss you, right now?”, Nea spoke.  
“I thought you would never ask”, Jeff said, smiling shyly, and running his hands through his long lock of hair.  
“I thought you said… Nobody was of interest to you here”, Nea retorted.  
“And then you came along”, remarked Jeff. 

Nea pushed Jeff affectionately, and the both of them set themselves on a rock, close to the ground. Nea positioned herself on top of Jeff, to which Jeff did not seem to mind at all.  
“I wanna eat you up!”, whispered Nea, boldly exhibiting her lust.  
“I would love that, but are you sure you wanna do this now? Here?”, Jeff whispered back.  
Nea closed her eyes and took a deep breath, arching her neck to the sky.  
“Yeah, you’re right… I’m just being an animal. It might not be a good idea now”, she said.  
“Hey, hey!”, Jeff said, holding her lovingly. “I just want you to think through, before doing anything.”  
“Just kissing, then”, said Nea. Then her lips found Jeff’s in an instant. Jeff let himself go.


	12. 12. But, Babe, You Gotta Trust Me

Dwight’s panic attacks were coming. He tore himself from everyone else and found an empty place in the wilderness. Sitting down, he breathed heavily. He was so angry, yet he did not know what to do. He felt helpless. The others were right. He should confront David. However, he did not know how. David also seemed cold towards him, tonight at the Campfire. Does this mean David and his journey together is running its course? After all the things that they went through, together? After such intense emotional investment…

Dwight began to cry, really hard. It had been ages, since he had done that. How could David do the things that others were saying he was doing! How could David undermine his value like this, disrespect him like this? What had Dwight not done for David, all this while?

Through the trees, Dwight saw Meg and Quentin going towards the treehouse that David, Bill, Jake, Adam, Nea and he had built. David had told him that he was his inspiration to envision it and plan it out.

Dwight’s crying intensified. He could hear Adam and David calling his name out. He did not wish to be seen, to be found out. He just wanted to turn into dust. He laid down on the ground, curled up in a foetal position.  
He might have fallen asleep for a few minutes, because he found himself waking up to Feng’s shrill voice.   
“Hey, what are you doing here by yourself, in the mud? Won’t you come to dinner?”, she squealed.  
“We were worried sick!”, Ace said.   
Jake was also standing there.  
“Don’t worry about me, here. There are no animals or killers”, muttered Dwight. “I wanna be alone tonight.”  
“If you want to sleep alone here, it’s your choice. But you have to have dinner, eh?”, said Ace. “Jake, Feng, could you inform the others that we’ve found ‘im? Bill went the other way, I think.”  
“Guys… just don’t let David know where I am”, said Dwight, annoyed.  
“So this is the problem?”, Jake remarked.  
“I don’t wanna talk about it… Ace, please just get me some food”, grunted Dwight, still annoyed.  
“David was worried about you. He was asking everyone around. He went to look for you. He is waiting for you at dinner”, Feng said, in a pleading voice.  
“The last thing I wanna see is his face, Feng!”, Dwight hissed, scornfully.  
“That’s an angry Dawg”, said Ace, shooting his eyebrows up. “I’m here for a bit. You guys go along. I’ll get him food.”

When Jake and Feng entered the Shack, reluctantly, they saw David standing with a grumpy face.  
“Feng, you say”, said Jake.  
“What? Ye saw ‘im?”, boomed David, coming over hastily.  
Feng took a deep breath and saw Claudette and Adam coming in and joining them from another side.  
“David… The thing is… We have found him, but I don’t know if it’s a good idea for you to go there now”, said Feng with a sad voice.  
“Is he okay?”, asked Claudette.  
“Not really… Emotionally. He seems to be very angry… About something”, said Feng.  
“And I think we could realize why he is”, said Jake, looking indignantly at David.  
David’s eyes narrowed, as he looked back at Jake.  
“What ye’ implyin’?”, he grunted. Teeth clenched.  
Feng took Jake’s hand and led him away from David.  
Claudette took a deep breath and spoke calmly, “David, before it’s too late, you need to communicate with Dwight. I’m sorry to say this. Only the both of you can fix whatever had gone wrong between you two.”  
“Whad’da blimey’s goin’ on! I don’t understand!”, David bellowed, hands all berserk, face red. Angry-bull mode on.  
Everyone turned to look at him.  
“This is not gonna go well”, Claudette whispered to Adam, who nodded.  
“Where is ‘e?”, grunted David, shaking.

Kate, to everyone’s surprise, came forth.  
“David… Calm down. Here… look at me”, she cooed in a breathy voice, attempting to put her hand on his shoulder.  
“GET AWAY FROM HIM, YOU F-----G B---H!”, screamed Nea, who had just arrived at the Shack, holding Jeff’s hand.   
Jeff was beyond taken aback at her sudden change of temperament.  
Nea darted towards Kate and gave her a hard, loud and vicious slap across her face.

After giving Dwight a long hug to make him feel a little better, Ace was just about to head to the Shack, to get him some food. He suddenly saw Meg and Laurie running towards him and Dwight.  
“Oh, thank God we found you guys! Come to the Shack”, said Laurie loudly, catching her breath.  
“What’s up?”, remarked Ace.  
“Huge fight!”, said Meg. “Nea and Kate.”  
“God, this is embarrassing!”, whispered Dwight, making a repulsed face. “What’s up with Nea?”  
“She shouted at Kate, called her some bad names and hit her hard. I mean, really hard. Kate is almost unconscious”, informed Laurie.  
Dwight put both his hands on his head.  
“David was also angry. He was shouting”, said Laurie.  
Dwight sighed.  
“Okay, bro’ sit tight. I’ll find out what’s happening. You don’t worry”, said Ace, getting up. He led the girls towards the Shack – the centre of the current action.

Ace entered the Shack and saw a few people encircling Nea, who was at a corner – sitting down, in tears. Jeff sat by her side with his arms around her, comforting her.   
While Meg and Laurie went towards Nea, Ace went down to the basement for getting some food for Dwight.   
When he was leaving the Shack with the plate of food, he gestured David to come.  
David came over, saw the plate and said, “Guess he doesn’t want te see me.”  
“Man, he’s your boyfriend… You guys love each other. Go on, talk to him. He might get pretty mad at me for doing this, but I think it’s for the best.”  
David sighed.  
“Where’s that Kate? She got hit, right?”, Ace asked.  
“Bad shape. Bill, Feng and Tapp took her somewhere further away from Nea.”  
“Now go, make up with your mad boyfriend”, said Ace, smirking and putting the plate of food on David’s hands. “Enough for two people.”  
“Appreciate it, Man”, said David, half-hugging him. “Tell me where he is!”

Dwight could understand that someone was coming towards him, but it wasn’t Ace. He now recognized the footsteps and shuddered. He laid down on the ground and turned his face away from the man he recognized.  
“Hi there!”, David tried to sound mellow and regular.  
Silence.  
“So… I’ve got ye dinner… Remember the time ye got me some when I was sulking?”  
Silence prevailed.  
“I know ye not sleeping… Ye angry with me fer some reason… I need ye to tell me what’s on ye mind”, David requested.  
Dwight’s eyes welled-up with tears and he started to sob quietly.  
As if David had understood, he put the plate aside, got down on the ground beside Dwight, and began to spoon him from behind.  
“Get away from me”, said Dwight, sniffling, “Don’t touch me.”  
“God, please don’t do this to me, Dwight… It’s cruel”, David cried out, as if in pain. “Th’ way ye’re behaving with me… It’s… It’s piercin’ me heart like a thousand bloody daggers!”  
“F—k you!”, said Dwight, continuing to cry.  
David spooned him tighter. Tears started streaming from his eyes, as well. His voice choked.  
“Ye don’t mean it… Say it… Please… Ye’re hurtin’ me… Ye’re hurtin’ me, Dwight!”, David mumbled loudly, crying.  
“You’re mean… You’re so mean… You broke my heart into a million pieces… I trusted you”, Dwight wailed.  
“What the f—k are ye talkin’ ‘bout? Who told ye all th’ shite?”  
“I’m not a fool”, muttered Dwight. “Leave me alone!”  
“What did I do? Besides loving ye like mad?... I wanted ye’r touch… So much, the past couple o’days… I writhed in pain, longing for ye”, David growled out loudly, as if in intense pain. “And now ye stabbin’ my heart. Ye abandonin’ me… Pushin’ me away!”  
“Go to your new lover… You needed a woman after all. I should’ve understood. A man wasn’t enough for you. I wasn’t enough for you!”, Dwight continued to wail.  
“What pile of rubbish are ye talkin’ about, Dwight? How dare ye disrespect what I ‘ave for ye? Who put all this in ye mind?... Ye couldn’t come te me with all this, yerself?... You ‘ad te believe yer friends, whatever they told ye?”, David retorted.  
“You might have cheated on me, David, for all I know”, hissed Dwight, teary eyed. “I want the truth.”

“Heav’n knows I ‘ave only and only loved YE!... Since I’ve come ‘ere… I love ye and I ‘ave aw’ways been faithful to ye’! Let God strike me dead if I am lyin’!”, David broke down like a baby, howling in tears. “Ye won’t look at me, ye won’t let me hold ye’… Touch ye’… I might as well be dead for good! I can’t bear this treatment from ye.”   
Dwight wiped his own tears and continued to sniffle, saying, “I loved you so much that I couldn’t bear to see you with that Kate! I thought something was going on… Others had thought that too.”  
The hurt beast of a man continued to bawl profusely, shaking and gasping for air, “How could ye do this te me?... Ye ‘ave any idea what ye are te me?... Ye are my everything, Dwight!… Ye hear?... My EVERYTHING!... My love, my whole world, my partner, my husband, my best mate, my soulmate, my other half… My bloody life!... I will die without ye… Ye understand, ye fool?... I can’t even breathe without ye… Ye are my bloody oxygen! And ye thinkin’ of me an’ some Kate?... My Bloody God! Is this the strength of what we ‘ave? Dwight?”  
“Then why were you seen with her by so many people? So many times?”, Dwight asked, with anger and irritation in his voice, while his tears flowed.  
“I won’t deny it, but I only thought of ‘er as a friend. I always interacted with ‘er as a friend. Nothing else… She might ‘ave tried flirtin’… I never did. I was polite and respectful… I only think of ye. I only ‘ave eyes for ye. I love ye so much, it kills me!”, David whimpered in tears, struggling to breathe.  
Dwight slowly turned slowly around, facing David.  
“The day Jeff came in, I was hurt. You were upstairs with Kate, David…”  
“I’m sorry, I was just talkin’. I lost track of time. I wasn’t that much worried about ye that day, I thought ye’d appear late. Ye were with yer friends. It was stupid of me. But I was thinking about ye all the time… I’m sorry”, David cried out.  
“My love… It’s also hard for me to breathe, without you. I cannot live without you. I cannot bear… To see you with someone else. I’m being possessive, but I’m sorry. I love you so, so much, it’ll be the death of me…”, he said, brushing the tears off David’s face. He then proceeded to pepper David’s rugged but beautiful face with intense kisses.  
Sweaty and red-faced, David held him closer and started to kiss him aggressively all over, as well. His tears did not stop.

“I’m yers, Dwight Fairfield… I’m only yer Bear. Only yers. No ‘un can take me away from ye… No ‘un can take ye away from me! No ‘un can ever love me th’ way ye do!... I love ye, I love ye! Only ye!”, David mumbled, moaning from Dwight’s kisses.  
“Take off your clothes”, Dwight looked at David with burning eyes, and spoke with seriousness in his voice.  
“Ye sure?”  
“Yes. I don’t care… I want you… Now”, said Dwight, holding David’s face to calm him down and stop his crying.  
“I want ye now, too”, whispered David, smiling.  
The aggressive kissing continued, while each of them started to unclothe each other.

“Yoohoo!... I got you cigarettes”, said Jeff gently, as he came from behind the mound elsewhere in the Campfire sub-Realm, where Nea was sitting alone, looking harrowed. “Can I be here?”  
“Thanks for coming Jeff. Come sit here – close to me… I saw David going over there. Must have found Dwight”, Nea said.  
Jeff scooted over. Nea pulled him closer, and he put an arm around her.  
“You’re so caring”, said Nea, half-snugging with him. “Your body is so warm!”  
“I want to see you smile, always. I like that Nea more”, Jeff said, smiling.  
“This is nice”, said Nea. “You and I, this way.”  
“Yes, it is”, Jeff repeated.  
“You and I are so different, then what makes you like me? I’m a pain in everybody’s a--!”, chuckled Nea.  
“No you’re not!”, Jeff said. “You are the most amazing woman I have ever seen!”  
“Why are you so good to me, Jesus? Any ulterior motive? Passing the time?”, Nea joked.  
“Well… Your ulterior motive was to kiss me, which you did!... And my ulterior motive is to ask you out on a date!”, said Jeff, a little awkwardly.  
“Do you really like me, Jeff? Like, really?”, asked Nea with a cracked voice.  
“Yes, I like you Nea. Very much. What about you?”, Jeff said, in a serious tone.  
“I’m liking you more, day by day. I actually dreamed of you asking me out on a date”, Nea blushed while speaking.  
“So… Would you like to go on a date with me, Miss Karlsson?”, Jeff smiled and asked. He patted Nea’s head.  
“I would love to, Mr. Johansen, my fellow-Viking!”, whispered Nea, as she kissed Jeff’s chest.  
Jeff lowered his head and gave a gentle kiss to Nea.  
“Let me plan it”, he said.  
“I’ll wear the only dress that I have. A white one. For you. I’ll definitely look very different!”, she said.  
“Can’t wait!”, mouthed Jeff.  
They kissed again – this time for quite a while.


	13. 13. “Never Let Me Go”

Dwight woke up a few minutes before the alarm would ring for the others to start their days, to start the trials. David was still asleep.  
Dwight did not wish to wake the poor guy up, especially after the emotional upheaval that the both of them had experienced last night. Followed by the most passionate and no-holds-barred intimacy, as they both ravaged each other’s bodies.  
Dwight examined the different parts of his body for scratches and bites, but it seems that like always, he had healed. There was no pain in his body, as well.  
David’s bare torso had also healed. There were no visible marks.  
Dwight became a bit sad. At least the Entity could have left one bruise that would signify their raw passion towards one another, in each of their bodies!  
Dwight smiled by himself, thinking deeply about something. He then nodded his head.

Hearing the Entity’s alarm embedded within his ears, David groaned and opened his eyes. The alarm stopped just then.  
He saw the love of his life, reclining beside him, looking at him with the most beautiful smile.  
“Oi, M’luv! C’mere.”  
David pulled Dwight for a kiss.  
“Haa! Now I feel truly alive… Have ye been up for a long time?”, David said, gently stroking Dwight’s face.  
“Sorta”, said Dwight, smiling.  
David sat up and started putting on his sweatshirt and jacket.  
“You alright?”, asked Dwight.  
“Never better, thanks to ye. Last night was… I ‘ave no words for it!”, David grinned, yawning sweetly.  
“Yeah. I mean… I have never experienced that… With you, ever!”, Dwight blushed as he spoke. “But I’m sorry for doubting you and hurting your feelings, unintentionally… I was mad at you. Thank goodness, it’s all over. I’m sorry, David, for everything.”  
“Eh, just leave it… It’s all over. I’ve made mistakes too. I made ye doubt me. Unintentionally, of course. I’m sorry, too”, replied David.  
Dwight stood up, followed by David.  
“All that matters is you and I are here”, Dwight said.  
“I love ye, so much”, said David.  
“And I love YOU!... I can’t believe you swallowed it, last night… y’know what”, Dwight blushed and grinned, feeling a little embarrassed.  
“Doesn’t matter to me. It was yers”, David said in a rather casual tone not looking at Dwight and turning the other way, dusting the sand off his jacket and trousers. “But ye don’t have to swallow mine, if it disgusts ye. No pressure.”

When David turned around and panned his eyes towards Dwight, he was visibly stupefied. His face became white. His eyes doubled their sizes.  
Dwight was down on one knee.  
David clearly knew what was coming.

Dwight cleared his throat and spoke a little nervously, spreading his arms: “I currently don’t have anything to do this with, but I’ll get something… I’m sorry if I goof up… Anyway, David… Mr. David King, I have to ask you something very important. Perhaps the most important thing in my entire life! Mr. David King, will you honour me by agreeing to be… My life partner for the rest of our lives? Will you honour me by agreeing to marry me and be my husband?”  
Tears streamed down from Dwight’s eyes, and he saw the exact thing happening to David’s eyes.

David wiped his tears, took a deep breath and cleared his throat. To Dwight’s surprise, he went down on one knee in front of him.  
David spoke, “Mr. Dwight Fairfield, I will surely answer yer question. Only after ye answer mine… Mr. Fairfield, it is I who would be honoured if ye agree to come to my cursed life, and bring all the happiness and light with ye! I would be blessed if ye agree to honour me… To be my husband, to marry me!”  
“Yes! Yes! Yes!”, squealed Dwight. “I want nothing more than this. Now you answer me.”  
“There’s nothing more that I would want, Mr. Fairfield. It would be my honour to be your husband. It was my honour to have been asked by you to marry you”, said David, almost breaking down with emotions.  
“So that’s a ‘yes’, right?”, asked Dwight.  
“Yes! Bloody, yes!”, bellowed David.

They stood up.  
Dwight spread his arms wide, smiled and said, “Get over here, you idiot!”  
David scooped Dwight up and spun round and round. When he put Dwight down, they embraced each other and rubbed each other’s backs, closing their eyes and feeling the warmth of their bodies. Eyes, teary.

“Okay, fiancée, let’s not tell anyone anything yet, okay? I have a plan. We get married today. At Respite. We’ll surprise everyone and will get to work. I have it all chalked-out. We do this today. I can’t wait a second more to marry you, but we have the matches now. Are you with me on this?”, Dwight suggested, after taking a deep breath.  
“Whatever ye want, my gorgeous fiancée. One hundred percent, with ye. Blindly. I’m sure ye 'ave a great plan!”, David replied, winking and smiling. “But what 'bout the rings?”  
“The rings along with our outfits that the Entity gave us? I have a few. Don’t you?”, Dwight reminded David.  
“I think I might 'ave 'un”, said David.  
“If you don’t you could take mine. It’s fine”, said Dwight.  
David kissed Dwight on the cheek, with glee.

“Who’ll be the best man? And the groomsmaid? The officiant?”, David enquired.  
“I will choose Nea to be our groomsmaid. I have thought of Bill as the officiant. Is that alright? He’s the head of this family, anyway!”, suggested Dwight. “We’ll tell them then and there.”  
“Bloody brilliant!”, replied David.  
“Who is going to be the best man, David?”, asked Dwight.  
“Jake?”  
“Brilliant!”, replied Dwight, with appreciation. “We do this today!”  
“Can’t wait!”, echoed David.

Then, after a brief kiss, they started running towards the Shack for getting ready and quickly gorging down breakfast. The matches of that day were going to begin soon.

They both knew that from the next day onwards, things between them will be different.  
Very pleasantly different!

THE END

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If anybody is inspired by this work and would want to write a sequel, please go ahead! I encourage you. In that case, please mention that your work is a sequel to this one.
> 
> Happy reading and writing!
> 
> Love you all!
> 
> -TP


End file.
